The Kingdom of Alice
by Caritate
Summary: Natsume is the prince of the Alice Kingdom. He meets a mysterious girl and finds interest in her. Who is she anyway? As she arrives, the gang ends up in a lot of misadventures...
1. The Alice Kingdom

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice and it's characters. Never have.

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a Medieval setting.

The Kingdom of Alice

Chapter 1: The Alice Kingdom

Our story takes place in a far away land. Words cannot be used to describe the place. It was beautiful yet simple, peaceful and serene, plentiful and abundant with life.

However, these descriptions only apply to a part of the said place, for if you go deeper into its hidden forests there you will find a horrible place that no one dares to speak of. It is often called as the "realm of darkness" for its real name is too evil to mention. This "realm" is filled with different creatures of unspeakable darkness. They cower in the dark for they couldn't possibly survive in the light. They keep waiting in the shadows to conquer the entire land, waiting for the right moment to attack, waiting to fill everyone's hearts with darkness. And where may we find these people that they want to overpower? Where else but the majestic Alice Kingdom.

The kingdom is the most beautiful place imaginable. Its inhabitants where people who posses different abilities called "alice". They use these abilities to perform their tasks in the kingdom. These are divided into five types. Usually, the type of alice one has determines the type of lifestyle and social status you have (status by blood doesn't usually apply). If you are in the latent type (the most common type of alice: teleportation, levitation etc. -e.i. superpowers) you are usually a commoner unless you practice your alice really well and if your alice is rare and useful. If you are in the somatic type (alice based on the body of humans, animals and other living things e.g. pheromones and transformations) it is possible for you to belong to the performers and actors although some would still be commoners depending on the usefulness of the alice. The technical types (based on research field and creating stuff) are considered as the scholars and intellectuals. The special ability types (doesn't belong to any of the categories) are usually composed of nomads, gypsies and travelers with no permanent homes although some are highly respected depending on the value of their alice. The dangerous ability types (as long as it's a hazard it's here) are trained to defend the kingdom against invaders coming from the dark realm. Their existence is mostly kept secret for they are special soldiers trained to do special missions. (they do not have any alice shape all of them have unlimited alice but there are still limitations)

For centuries the kingdom has been peaceful and tranquil. However this didn't last long. The kingdom was divided into two: the Alice Kingdom and The Anti-alice Empire. The Anti-alice Empire was established when the heir on the alice kingdom was said to have committed "suicide". Loyal followers of the said prince did not believe this and decided to rebel. They believe that the elder son of the king had his brother killed because of envy.

The elder son was jealous of his younger brother because the king favored him to rule the land and was to marry the fairest maiden in the land who he was so desperately in love with. His plan, however did not go according to his plan because after he has killed his brother he too was also found to be dead weeks after. No one knows who did it. The princess who he was to marry was said to run away with the only heir to the throne, a young baby girl.

The kingdom was then left to be ruled by the two princes' cousin until the proper heiress returns. The AA(anti-alice) Empire also awaits the return of the young princess for she is the daughter of the rightful king of the kingdom (the younger son). Nobody knows what has happened to the princess and her mother. They say that girl ran away because the jealous prince was going to kill her baby for she was the child of his brother, the man he hates more than anything.

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This chapter isn't the real start of the story. It's just a description of the setting and the history of the kingdom.

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I know it was pretty boring but please R&R.

Be gentle with those reviews please.


	2. Say Farewell to the Peaceful Village

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice and it's characters. Never have.

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a Medieval setting.

**This is where it really begins… **

**Their ages are 16 for Mikan and Natsume, 17 for Hotaru, Ruka and the rest…**

The Kingdom of Alice

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Chapter 2: Say Farewell to the Peaceful Village

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In a village, far far away from the palace, we can see a lovely brunette girl dancing around in the meadows, chasing butterflies, picking flowers and singing to herself. The girl had pale smooth skin that seems to glow when the sunlight touches it. She had warm hazel eyes that shimmered under the brightness of the morn. Her auburn hair would have danced in the wind free of care if it weren't braided into two pigtails which were held by white ribbons. She twirled around wearing a dress that her grandfather gave her. It was a white dress that only reached her knee. It had laces strapped behind her back and a faded pink ribbon that was tied behind her. The dress suited her really well and most of her clothes were like this one with matching slippers. She looked elegant and to top it all up was a beautiful heart shaped pendant that was encrusted with pink diamonds that she never took off. She was breathtaking but what really made her beautiful was something she would always where on her face, her smile. Her smile is so beautiful that it would make anyone who looks at her melt with her warmth.

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"Ne ne Hotaru, why don't you dance with me? The wind feels good when it hits your skin", the girl said while closing her eyes not even bothering to look at her best friend.

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"I can feel the wind touch my face without looking like an idiot." The girl with amethyst eyes and ebony hair replied. She was also beautiful but you can rarely see any emotion in her face. Her hair was short though just enough to reach her shoulders. She wore a much simpler lavender dress that was also up to her knee and lavender slippers.

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"Oh, you're no fun at all. How about you Ryu-kun? ", The brunette said to the person besides the impassive girl.

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"Uhm… No thanks Mikan. I'd rather just sit here" replied the boy with pitch-black hair and eyes. He wore a loose white shirt and brown pants. His face was handsome but was always serious. He watched the brunette intently as if guarding her from something.

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"Seriously Mikan when are you gonna act your age, your gonna turn seventeen in just a couple of weeks. You should learn how to act more responsibly or you might end up in trouble." Hotaru said as emotionless as ever.

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"Oh come on Hotaru. You know it feels good to loosen up once in a while and I know that if I ever end up in trouble you and Ryu-kun would always be there to help me. You two are my best friends after all", She answered while flashing them her brightest smile ever.

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_(sigh)'This is gonna be harder than I thought' _

"Mikan" The ebony haired girl said with a serious tone as she looked at the sky. "You know we won't always be around for you, you know."

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The brunette stopped dancing and looked at the girl in front of her.

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"W-what do you m-mean?" she stuttered trying to be cheerful. She knew something was wrong because of the finality in the tone of her friends.

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"I'm going away to-.." but she was interrupted by the girl crying in front of her.

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"You can't! I'll mi-"she was also cut off.

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"Don't worry. We might see each other soon. I'll write to you always and Ryu here is gonna stay anyway"

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"W-where are y-you going?" she asked trying to hold back the tears that threaten to stain her pretty face.

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"I'm going to the Kingdom's capital where the palace is. I'm going to start studying there and perhaps become a scholar." '_I'm doing this for you Mikan. For reasons you're not yet ready to understand'_

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**Flashback **

**-**

**-**

"**Mother, must I really go?" asked a girl with ebony hair.**

**-**

"**I'm afraid so my dear. It has been sixteen years since the incident. We have lost our contact with the palace since then. Our family together with Ryu's family were entrusted to protect her. We must find out what is happening at the palace to see if she could finally return safely. I cannot go for they will recognize me. You mustn't tell her the real reason why you're going though. I don't think she's ready yet." A woman replied to her daughter.**

**-**

"**I understand mother"**

**-**

**-**

**End of Flashback**

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"Don't worry Mikan. I'll be here for you." Ryu said as he placed his right hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her.

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"O.K. Hotaru I understand. But please promise me you'll write to me everyday ok?"

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"Ok, I promise. Just don't cry. Crying makes you ten times uglier."

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She immediately wiped her tears and asked her friend with a smile, "When will you be leaving Hotaru?"

"Now", she said still with no emotion but sadness apparent in her eyes upon closer inspection. "I only came to see you to say goodbye"

Suddenly a carriage stopped by in front of them. "Goodbye Mikan!"

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It has been 2 weeks since Hotaru left and Mikan couldn't help but worry about her. She hasn't received any replies from the letters she has sent her. It's not like her best friend to act that way. Although she seems that she doesn't care she wouldn't make anyone worry about her. Something was definitely wrong…

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"Ryu-kun, I'm getting worried. What if something has happened to her" Mikan asked Ryu as the walk towards her house.

"Don't think like that Mikan. She's fine. She's just having difficulties, I guess" Ryu answered unemotionally.

"I'm gonna go after her Ryu." She said with determination.

"B-but" Ryu tried to argue but he knew it was useless for once the girl has set her mind on something she would always follow through. _(sigh)_

**Flashback**

**-**

**A young man was having a talk with his father…**

**-**

"**Son, I know you can handle this responsibility I am giving you. It is our job to protect over her. You do understand right?"**

"**Yes father. I would give her my life if I have to"**

"**I'm glad you see it my way but you can't let her find out about who she is."**

"**I understand. But how come I can't tell her about my alice? "**

"**She doesn't know what an alice is yet. Hotaru can show her the inventions she makes because she would only think that these inventions are caused by Hotaru's intellect and not by anything else. She will find out for herself soon enough. It is part of who she is."**

"**Ok father I really do understand now"**

**-**

**End of Flashback**

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"RYU!!!" she shouted as she snapped her hand in front of the boy.

"W-what?" he asked finally snapping back to reality.

"You were spacing out"

"Oh" he said plainly.

"I'm packing now. Please don't tell grandpa. I'll leave him a letter any way."

"No, I'm coming with you and that's final. Either that or you're not going. AT ALL."

"Hmph. Fine"

_Dear Grandpa,_

_I have gone to find Hotaru in the capital. Don't worry about me Ryu came along. I'll come back as soon as I can. Promise!!!_

_Please be safe while I'm gone. Be nice to strangers and please quit hitting them with you stick. Don't forget to take a bath every once in a while but make sure you don't catch a cold._

_Love, _

_Mikan _

_-_

_-_

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"It seems her destiny is finally unfolding. Good luck Princess!" whispered an old man while clutching a letter in his hands.

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Meanwhile in somewhere in the capital…

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"Did you bring what I need?" a certain raven haired boy asked.

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"Yup. You'll blend in with the civilians perfectly" a blond haired boy replied. "I still don't get why we have to dress like this every time we live the palace. I mean it's not like you're not allowed right? We do go to the academy every day. Why must you dress up as a commoner every weekend?" he continued.

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"I have valid reasons. First I'm only allowed out when I go to the Academy and that's not without my ROYAL ESCORT. Second, I'm also allowed out without them but only when I'm training. Lastly, I hate being swooned over by girls. Those reasons enough?"

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"Yeah, I suppose that the royal entourage is a bit too much and those fan girls give me the creeps."_-sigh-_

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Read and review…

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-Be gentle please

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-I know nothing has really happened yet but that's because it's only just beginning…


	3. Keeping One's Identity Secret

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice and it's characters. Never have.

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a Medieval setting.

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**Their ages are 16 for Mikan and Natsume, 17 for Hotaru, Ruka and the rest…**

The Kingdom of Alice

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Chapter 3: Keeping One's Identity Secret

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_Previously: Hotaru left the village to go to the Kingdom's capital. Mikan got worried about her so she decided to follow her. Ryu accompanied Mikan. They are now on their way to the capital._

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Mikan and Ryu are now heading for the kingdom's capital. (they are wearing the same type of clothes only different in color. The laces on Mikan's dress are now orange while Ryu's pants are black). They were riding a coach pulled by two horses. Ryu was controlling the coach while Mikan sat beside him. She couldn't help but feel excited to go the capital. She hasn't set foot out of the village even once. This is because she wasn't allowed to. She doesn't know the real reason why but she thinks her grandpa is just being overprotective.

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"I can't wait to go to the capital and see Hotaru again. Tell me Ryu-kun, you've been to the capital, right? Tell me what it's like there?" asked the bubbly brunette.

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"It's not that interesting. There are a lot of people and…." he hesitated to continue when he remembered something. _'Mikan. She doesn't know about alices'_

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"H-e-l-l-o! anyone there?" the girl asked as she waved her hand in front of him.

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"Huh?"

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"Aaaaannd?... What?" she asked.

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'_Darn! I didn't see this one coming. (sigh)This is really a problem. We can't let anyone know what her alice is because they'll immediately find out who she really is. Hmm…………………………………………………………………………………………………._

_I know, I'll just tell her what her alice really is and somehow convince her not to keep it a secret. But how?... Got it!'_

_-_

"Ryu-kun? You there?" she asked while snapping her fingers in front of him.

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"Mikan, Do you know what your alice is?", he asked.

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"Huh? Alice? Is that some kind of trick question? "

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"No"

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"Are we playing a game?"

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"No"

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"Is it some kind of food?" she said as she rubbed her stomach indicating she was hungry.

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"NO!_(sigh)_ I'll tell you while we stop here and eat for a while" he replied.

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Ryu began to tell Mikan everything about what an alice is and the types of alice that exist while she stuffed her face with food they brought on their way. (Every one in the kingdom has an alice)

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"So what's your alice then? How about Hotaru's alice and mine too?" she asked, still stuffing her face with food.

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"I have the earth alice. I can control the ground we are standing on. Hotatu has the innovation alice that is why she's good at inventing stuff, it's not just because of her intelligence. You, on the other hand have two alices: Nullification and Ability Theft or Copying Alice." He said as he calmly sipped his tea.

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"Really? How come I've never noticed it before? And how come you never told me about the "alice" before?" she said as she placed a finger on her chin.

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"Your alice is only evident if other people use their own. How can you use your nullifying alice if there is nothing to nullify? You never asked about it anyway. It's a common knowledge you know. Why do you think this place is called the ALICE kingdom?"

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"Oh. I guess you're right." She answered seemingly satisfied with the answer.

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'_Good thing she's simple minded. No one else would be gullible enough to be satisfied with that excuse'_ He thought.

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"Mikan, Listen. It we are gonna go to the capital you're gonna have to follow everything I say. Otherwise we'll return to the village immediately."

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"Huh? What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

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"Take this" He said as he handed her a yellow stone.

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"What is this?" she asked.

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"It's an alice stone. It's basically a stone that contains an amount of a persons alice. That one is a barrier alice stone." He said as he pointed at the stone the brunette was holding.

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"What do I need it for?"

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"You can NEVER tell anyone about your alice."

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"But why"

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'_Here goes my dumb explanation. I hope she buys it'_

"People with the nullifying alice and the ability theft alice are thrown in prison."

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"eh? But why?

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"Think about it Mikan would you be happy if people took away your alice and/or render your alice useless? It's better if you don't mention it at all." he said, hoping that she'll believe him.

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"Oh. That's harsh. So you want me to tell people that I have a barrier alice instead right?"

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'yes!' "YES"

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"ok Ryu-kun" she said as she smiled at the boy. "Thanks for protecting me"

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They finally finished eating and decided to rest for a while. (Yes they were eating the whole time). Ryu was laying resting his head on a rock when he overheard Mikan talking to herself.

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"Hi my name is Mikan Sakura! Nice to meet you.. No that's too formal. Hi I'm Mikan Hotaru's best friend, I have a barrier alice. Hmmm… no not good enough" she whispered to herself loudly. (is it even possible to whisper loudy?)

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Apparently, she was practicing her speech for when she makes new friends. She is a very friendly person after all.

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Suddenly, Ryu realized something. _'Mikan Sakura, Sakura Mikan… wait a minute'_

His eyes widened with the sudden realization.

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'_Her name!' _He hit himself in the head mentally.

_'Her name is the biggest give away for her identity. Sakura is a name that only people with royal blood posses and SHE was the last "Sakura". Mikan is the name of the princess. The Tangerine with one leaf is her emblem. She even has it as a birth mark at the lower part of her nape. _(Her birthmark is the same as her emblem; it is shaped like a tangerine with one leaf)_ It is the same symbol found in Mikan's Pendant. (sigh) I can't believe there are still a lot of holes left uncovered. What's the big deal in hiding her identity anyway?' _

Of course he knew the reasons but he was thinking of what would happen if she was discovered. _'_

_Let's see, firs of al they might not believe her. Most of the people there believe that the princess is dead after all. They would just think she's crazy and throw her in the asylum. That's not that bad, is it? OFCOURSE IT ISN'T IT'S WORST THAN BAD IT'S REALLY REALLY BAD! (sigh). Then again they might believe her and she could __**JUST**__ get assassinated. I won't let that happen to her, ever!'_

(just in case you were wondering he IS in love with Mikan)

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"Mikan, I don't want you to use your real name once we get to the capital" He said to the girl.

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"Why not?" she asked

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"Uhm… _'think, think, got it'_ you see they probably have records of names of the other people with the same alice as you."

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"So?"

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"So… since most alices are inherited they might draw the correct conclusion on what type of alice you have. Take my family for instance my father has the earth alice and so do most of the Yukushima Clan. Meaning most of the people with the same alice type as you are probably Sakura's as well. Do you see my point?" He said to the confused girl.

(Yukushima is his surname. I made it up. Sorry if it's bad)

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"Ow, I understand… (sigh)" she said. " anything else?"

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"Well you should hide that pendant of yours. You don't have to take it off just make sure no one can see it. You might get robbed you know. I also want you to wear this hood most of the time we are there. _'I wouldn't want anyone staring at you or drooling at the ground you walk on. I just might kill someone.' _It will be easier for us this way" He handed her a white cloak that had a hood. It matched her dress perfectly.

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"O-ok" she was a bit confused but she knew her best friend only wants to protect her even if it seems that it's a bit too much.

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The next day they finally arrived at the capital. It was HUGE. It was separated from the outside by a thick impenetrable wall. They arrived at the entrance. There were several guards on near the drawbridge. Upon arrival, their coach was immediately called to a halt as one of the guards approached them. He looked at the boy with black eyes then at the girl with a hood covering her head.

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"State your name, alice, and your business here." The guard said in a commanding tone. (in this place it is a custom to include your alice in your introductions)

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"Yukushima, Ryu, earth alice. We are here to visit a friend." He said as he bowed his head a little to show respect.

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" and you? Your name please" Said the guard.

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"Oh yeah I'm MI-mmm" Mikan was not able to continue when Ryu used his hand to cover her mouth preventing her from giving her identity.

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"MImmm?" the guard was starting to get suspicious.

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"Uh.. h-he-he he… She's M-miyu S-sak-ke. _'yeah that would do'_ Miyu Sake" He told the guard nervously.

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'_Sake? Miyu Sake? I sound like I'm some kind of alcoholic beverage'_ Mikan sweatdrops at the name Ryu has given her.

("sake" is japanese for wine right?")

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-"ok you may pass" the guard finally said

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-_'Whew, that was close. . . Too close'_ they both thought.

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Within the walls of the Kingdom Capital (A.K.A. central town)

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"Wow Ryu! It's so big" Mikan said while her eyes turn into stars due to amazement.

"How do we find Hotaru here, Ryu-kun?"

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"She's probably at the academy. People who are aged twenty and below go to the academy in order to train their alices. It is a learning institute designed with that particular purpose. Stay here while I ask for directions." he left her on a bench in a middle of a park as he looked for someone to ask.

"Ok. But are there even classes during weekends?" she asked but he already left. "Well, we are talking about Hotaru. She probably studies even on weekends."

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Ryu was heading back to where Mikan was for he was already done asking someone for directions. He was about to get to her when he bumped into someone.They both fell on the ground.

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"Watch where you're going Idiot!" a certain boy said. Ryu couldn't see his face because he also had a hood on, but he did get a glimpse of his eyes. He had deep crimson eyes.

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"Hyuuga." Ryu said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

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"Yukushima." The boy replied with equal annoyance. He removed his hood. "Still no respect, eh?"

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"Sorry, your HIGHness." Ryu answered in a mocking tone filled with sarcasm.

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"You haven't changed a bit have you? Same annoying pest huh?"

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"Same arrogant jerk, huh? Still dressing up to escape the pressures of palace life? What's wrong can't handle the pressure?"

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"Don't talk to Natsume that way you don't know him at all. It's not his fault he has to be prince it's that princess' fault for not showing up to claim the throne for herself" a certain blond interrupted.

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"Ruka don't get involved in this" Natsume told his bestfriend.

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"But.." Ruka tried to say but he was cut off.

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"He has always been destined for the throne. Even if the princess returned he is betrothed to her so it wouldn't have made a difference. It can't be changed until he turns eighteen, then the engagement would be void" Ryu said.

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(This is one of the many reasons why Ryu dislikes Natsume. He feels that Natsume is blaming the princess for his own hardships plus he's engaged to the princess. To find out how they met read the next chapter)

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"Hn. Lets just finish what we started a year ago, shall we?" Natsume said as a fireball appeared on top of his palm.

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"Let's. And for the record, YOU started it." Ryu answered. Then the ground started shaking lightly.

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Both of them were about to attack each other when…

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"Ryu? What are you doing? Is he your friend? Are you playing a game?" a certain hooded girl appeared from behind the trees. (They were in a park with a forest.)

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_To be continued…_

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Read and review please. . .

Tell me what you think but please be gentle..

I know it's kinda slow but I really didn't want to leave out any details so sorry.

And please inform me if I have committed any grammatical errors at all. I must have overlooked because I don't proofread.

Sorry and Thank you!


	4. First Meeting Earth and Fire

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice and its characters. Never have.

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a Medieval setting.

**Bold texts are flashbacks**

**-**

_Italicized texts in single quotation marks are thoughts_

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CAPITALIZED TEXRS ARE GIVEN EMPHASIS AND/OR SPOKEN OUT REALLY LOUD

-(sorry if it's too late)

The Kingdom of Alice

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Chapter 4: First Meeting; Earth and Fire

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_Previously:_

"_Hn. Lets just finish what we started a year ago, shall we?" Natsume said as a fireball appeared on top of his palm._

_-_

"_Let's. And for the record, YOU started it." Ryu answered. Then the ground started shaking lightly._

_-_

_Both of them were about to attack each other when…_

_-_

"_Ryu? What are you doing? Is he your friend? Are you playing a game?" a certain hooded girl appeared from behind the trees. (They were in a park with a forest.)_

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Natsume and Ryu were about to attack each other, when all of a sudden, a certain hooded person interrupted them. (Remember, Mikan is wearing a cloak over her dress. The cloak had sleeves long enough to reach the tip of her thumb. Her hood completely covers her head and her hair which was once again tied up into two braided pigtails with ribbons. She also had a piece of cloth, swept across her face in such a way that the only visible part of her face is her eyes.)

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-"Ryu-kun, what took you so long? And what are you doing know?" asked the girl with warm hazel eyes. She looked at the other two people that Ryu was with. They were staring at her and she felt quite uncomfortable about it so she decided to talk, but before she could utter another word the blond haired boy said something to his companion.

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-"Natsume, It's a girl and you don't have your hood on. We better make a run for it before the rest of them find out where we are." He said hurriedly as his friend nodded in agreement. They were about to turn around and run away when they heard someone chuckle.

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"Tch, do you honestly think she's one of your fan girls, Hyuuga? As if she'd fall for an arrogant freak like you. You don't have to worry SIRE she's not interested in you. Not every girl in the kingdom is willing to kiss the ground you walk on." Ryu said with a mocking tone.

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Natsume turned around to face Ryu. "So is this your girlfriend eh? Figures someone as irritating as you could only find someone ugly to be with." He said with a smirk forming on his lips.

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Mikan was busy trying to figure out what was going on in front of her when she came to a sudden realization. _'G-girlfriend? Wait a minute, h-he just c-called me ugly.'_

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"H-hey, how dare you say I'm ugly? I don't even know you whoever you are! And Ryu-kun is my BESTFRIEND, got it?" she said as she held her fist up while trying to stop her eyebrows from twitching.

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-"Hn. Whatever little girl. If you're not ugly then why wear the hood? And it seems that you're so ugly that the hood alone is not enough, you have to cover half of your place with cloth. Stop pretending you old hag" Natsume said with a bored expression on his face.

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"P-pretending?!?!" _'this guy is really getting on my nerves'_ she thought.

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"Yeah, stop pretending that you don't know who's in front of you. You should at least address him the proper way." Ruka said with mild irritation in his voice.

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"What's the matter Hyuuga can't you stand it when someone is not falling head over heals over you? And for the record, she really doesn't know who you are." Ryu said as he grabbed Mikan's arm and began to walk away. "We'll finish this some other time your HIGH-ness."

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"Hn. Running away again eh?"

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"I'm busy and I don't have time for you right now but I assure you we will finish this. Oh, and Hyuuga, I'm not the one who's gonna run away" Ryu said as he smirked at Natsume. He raised his finger and pointed at him.

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"W-what are you doing?' Ruka asked nervously while Natsume glared at Ryu. Mikan was just staring at them still trying to comprehend what was happening.

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"You'll see" his smirk got wider when he turned around and face the other direction, his finger still pointing at Natsume. He took a deep breath and….

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-_5…………………._

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-_4…………….._

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-_3…………_

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_-_

-_2……._

_-_

_-_

-_1…_

_-_

_-_

"HEY LOOK IT'S PRINCE NATSUME!!!" Ryu shouted as loud as he could, making sure that his voice was heard even over a distance.

-

-

"REALLY? WHERE????"

-

-

"WE LOVE YOU NATSUME-SAMA!!!!!"

-

-

Suddenly, the grounded started trembling. This time it was not caused by Ryu's Alice. Mikan grabbed Ryu's arm and embraced it tightly. The trembling seems to increase in magnitude for each passing second.

-

-

- _' you're in for it now Hyuuga'_ Ryu thought as he glared at Natsume and gave him an evil grin. He quickly ran away and hid behind the trees with Mikan.

-

-

-

"HE'S HERE ALL RIGHT I CAN PICK UP HIS SCENT!!!"

-

-

"WE'RE COMING NATSUME-SAMA!!!"

-

-

"LOOK THERE HE IS!!!!"

-

-

"I LOVE YOU PRINCE!!!!!!!!"

-

-

"RUKA IS WITH HIM TOO!!!"

-

-

"MARRY ME RUKA-KUN!!!"

-

-

-

Natsume took a step back as his eyes widened. '_No Way, you'll pay for this pest!!!'_ Natsume and Ruka started running for their lives.

_-_

_-_

'_Darn it! Yukushima you're dead' _Natsume didn't have time to react because an army of love crazy girls were already charging at them at a full speed. It was either run or get devoured by the most horrible type of creature imaginable to any good looking guy, nope not fan girls, "**DERANGED FAN GIRLS**".

-

-

'_Guess I'm not the one who ran away huh? Hehe"_ Ryu smiled inwardly. '_I win this round Hyuuga'_

-

Mikan and Ryu started walking towards the Academy.

-

"Hey, Ryu-kun who was that anyway? He's so rude! Did you just say he was the prince? I can't believe that guy. Grrrr." Mikan said irritably. "How come he knows you Ryu-kun?"

-

-

"Last year, I had to go visit my sick uncle here. I stayed here at Central Town (capital) for five months remember?"

-

"Oh, yeah now I remember. But how exactly did you meet him?"

-

"I met him when I went to study at the academy during my stay. Anyway, he's the prince of the Alice Kingdom and … That's about it."

-

"Oh, come on. That's it? You never tell me anything about what you did here during those five months" Mikan said as she pouted a little. (It can't be seen because of the hood.)

-

-

"We'll there's no need to tell you now since you're already here. You can find out what it's like in Central Town by experiencing it first hand."

-

-

"I suppose you are right, or maybe you just forgot and that's why you can't tell me. You can't remember what happened can you?"

-

-

"What do you take me for? I'm not as old as your grandpa you know!"

-

-

"Well "mister-I-don't-have-a-defective-memory–even-though-I-obviously-do, if you've gone to the academy before, how come you had to ask for directions so we could go there?"

-

-

"Are you blind? Can't you see how big this place is? I just asked what the quickest way to get there was."

-

"Whatever GRANDPA!" she teased.

-

"Shut up Mika… or should I say Miyu Sake" he teased back with a smirk on his face."

-

"Hey! I haven't forgiven you for that!" she said while holding up her fist. "And isn't this hood thingy a bit too much? People are staring at us."

-

"People will do more than just stare if you removed that."

-

"What do you mean?"

-

"Nothing, just do as I say. You agreed upon going here to follow anything that I tell you or else we go back, remember?"

-

-

"Fine" she said. She knew better than to argue with Ryu when it comes to these things.

"Ryu-kun, why were you fighting with the prince a while ago?" she asked as she looked at Ryu's face.

-

"It's nothing" he replied

-

"It can't just be nothing, you were giving each other death glares"

-

"Well I must have forgotten. I am an old man aren't I Sake-san?" he looked at her and smiled.

-

"Hmph" she muttered as she crossed her arms in front of her.

-

"Whatever let's just go and look for my cousin already" (Hotaru and Ryu are cousins. Her mother and his father are siblings)

-

Ryu couldn't tell Mikan the true reason why he doesn't like Natsume even a bit, but he remembered how they met perfectly.

**Flashback**

**-**

"**So this is Central Town eh?" a certain boy with pitch-black eyes said.**

**-**

**-**

**-**

"**Uncle, How are you feeling? Father told me to stay here with you for a while and take care of you until you get better" he said to his uncle who was lying on his sick bed. "But I'll leave as soon as you get well." **_**'I can't stay too long. I need to go back to her and be by her side to protect her always. I need to be beside her and watch everything she does. She just worries me to much**_**'**

**-**

**-**

"**Thank you Ryu. I understand. I know your reasons. How is she anyway? Have you told her how you feel?**

**-**

**-**

"**She's fine. A-and n-no not really" he said calmly though a shade of red was visible on his face.**

**-**

**-**

**His uncle chuckled a bit. "You should tell her once you get back" **(Ryu hasn't told Mikan how he feels yet)

-

-

"**Y-yeah sure" **_**'But she's betrothed I'll just tell her once her engagement is voided. That's when the prince turns 17. That's about a year from now and that's when I'll tell her.'**_

_**-**_

"**Anyway, I enrolled you at the academy so get to have something to do and not get too bored while staying here. It's a perfect opportunity for you to gain some new experiences. You start tomorrow."**

**-**

**-**

"**Fine, but don't expect me to take it seriously."**

**-**

**-**

**The next day:**

**-**

**-**

**Ryu was walking on his way to his new classroom. With him was a man with purple eyes and shoulder length hair tied with a ribbon at the tip. The guy wore black pants and a loose long sleeved shirt. At first glance you could easily mistake him for a woman because of his beautiful face.**

**-**

**-**

"**You must be Mr. Yukushima's nephew. Your uncle is quite famous you know. Not everyone has complete mastery of their alice. I guess the Yukushima's are well known for being excellent alice-users and their reputation as protectors."**

**-**

**(The Yukushima clan has always protected important people in the kingdom, however, they chose who they want to protect. You can't hire them to protect you. Thay serve their chosen master and will give up their life for them. The clan has always served the Sakuras, they were loyal to the true heir and not to the jealous brother.-chapter 1-)**

**-**

**-**

"**By the way, you can call me Narumi-sensei or Mr. Narumi. Choose whatever makes you feel comfortable."**

**-**

**-**

**Ryu nodded in response. They stopped when they finally reached the classroom. "Wait here and come in when I call for you, ok?" Ryu nodded.**

**-**

**-**

**Mr. Narumi walked in front of the classroom. "Class we have a new student today." He signals Ryu to come in. **

**-**

"**My name is Ryu Yukushima, 16 years old, earth alice" Ryu said nonchalantly as he bowed a little.**

**-**

**-**

"**EEEEHHHH!!!!" the girls inside the classroom squealed.**

**-**

**-**

"**HE'S JUST AS HOT AS NATSUME-SAMA & RUKA-SAMA"**

**-**

**-**

"**YEAH! HE'S GORGEOUS!"**

**-**

**-**

"**HE'S A YUKUSHIMA! AREN'T THEY FAMOUS ALICE-USERS"**

**-**

**-**

"**HE'S PERFECT. HE IS EVEN A SPECIAL STAR"**

**-**

**-**

"**LET'S RENAME OUR FANCLUB AND INCLUDE RYU-SAMA IN IT."**

**-**

**-**

**Girls with hearts forming on their eyes started surrounding Ryu.**

**-**

'_**(sigh) This is gonna be tough' **_**Ryu thought.**

**-**

**-**

"**Ok now, back to your seats. Stop suffocating Mr. Yukushima." Mr. Narumi said. "Today's classes will be suspended so that Mr. Yukushima will have time to look around town. Oh yeah, before I forget I'll have to assign someone to be his partner to show him around the place."**

**-**

**-**

"**OO-OOOH, PICK ME SENSEI!"**

**-**

"**NOO PICK ME"**

**-**

"**ME" "ME" "MEEEE!!!!"**

**-**

**The girls started beating each other. Ryu and all of the guys sweatdrops. **

**-**

"**I have the perfect partner for you Ryu" Mr. Narumi said with a grin on his face, "Your partner will be Mr. Hyuuga"**

**-**

**The class became silent. They all looked at the raven haired boy seated at the back of the classroom.**

**-**

"…"

**-**

"**So Natsume what do you say? Mr. Narumi said as his eyes sparkled.**

**-**

"**No" the boy replied nonchalantly**

**-**

"**B-but Ryu needs a partner Natsume. Surely an understanding prince like you would be the best person to show him around the place. You know central town like the back of your hands. Besides, you're the only other person with a special star ranking in the whole academy." Mr. Narumi begged with puppy dog eyes.**

**-**

"**NO" this time Natsume said it more firmly but still emotionless.**

**-**

'_**Wait a minute, he's the prince?' **_**Ryu thought. **_**'He's the one SHE's engaged to. (sigh) Might as well go and meet him to see what he's like. He better be nice for his sake'**_

**-**

**Ryu walked over to where Natsume was. "Hi. I'm Ryu nice to meet you, prince." Ryu said as he bowed his head down and offered Natsume a hand to shake.**

**-**

**The class was surprised by Ryu's sudden actions. He seemed uninterested before Mr. Narumi addressed Natsume as the Prince. **

**-**

'_**Tsk. Another idiot'**_** Natsume thought. Since he was young, people act differently towards him when they find out that he's royalty. (He thought that Ryu's sudden interest in him was because of his position, wealth and power. He doesn't know what Ryu's true reasons are. Ryu just wanted to know what type of guy "SHE" was going to marry someday, out of concern of course. –and slight jelousy as well-)**

**-**

**-**

**He looked at Ryu's hand unemotionally though it seemed that he was too disgusted to touch it.**

**-**

'_**Tsk. I guess he's one of those arrogant snobs'**_** Ryu thought as he took his hand and shoved it in his pocket. "Guess you're too good to shake hands with a commoner eh, HYUUGA?" Ryu said as they glared at each other both with expressionless faces.** (Ryu is not a commoner he belongs to nobility as well. He's just mocking Natsume.)

-

-

**The whole class was once again shocked. Ryu just called 'Natsume Hyuuga' the 'PRINCE', by his Last name in a mocking disrespectful tone. It was as if he didn't see Natsume as a prince at all. (Ryu isn't the rude type at all, infact, he's a complete gentleman and is very respectful to other people's authority. He just couldn't stand the fact that "SHE" was going to marry a person who he think is an arrogant jerk.)**

**-**

**-**

"**Go bother someone else and stop pestering me, PEASANT." Natsume nonchalantly said with a hint of irritation in his voice. (Natsume isn't really an arrogant snob -well maybe a bit arrogant but not in this way- He doesn't usually use his wealth and power to degrade others. He never looks down on people just because they're ordinary and he's a prince. There was just something about Ryu that he couldn't stand. He needed to say something to make him leave and since Ryu already thinks he's pompous, why not go with that?)**

**-**

**-**

"**Peasant?"**_** 'I'm definitely not gonna let her marry this jerk.'**_

_**-**_

"**Oh, so you're not only poor and useless but you're also deaf as well?" Natsume said in a bored tone. His left arm was on his desk supporting his head as is left cheek rested on his palm.**

**-**

**-**

"**And I see that you're not only arrogant but you're also a jerk." Ryu said with equal boredom in his face.**

**-**

**-**

**Although their faces didn't show it, there was definitely tension between the two. Everyone in class could tell. What else could have caused the sudden irregularities in the surrounding? Either that or the sudden increase in temperature and the light shaking of the ground were indications that a nearby volcano had just erupted.**

**-**

**-**

**Mr. Narumi finally decided to end the glaring contest between the two before they end up destroying the school. "Ok, break it up you two. There'll be plenty of time to make friends later. A-h-he-he" he laughed nervously"**

**-**

**-**

**-**

**That was pretty much how it was between Ryu and Natsume. For the duration of Ryu's stay they would always avoid each other. If they get a glimpse of eack other, someone always ends up in the hospital for some strange reasons; they either pass out because of the sudden temperature change or they would fall in a deep crack on the ground that appeared out of nowhere . When Ryu was about to head back to the village, he had to say goodbye to his classmates, too bad half of them were'nt there. (They were in the hospital because, unluckily for them, most of the time that Natsume and Ryu were together, they were in the classroom seated next to each other, both of them trying to control themselves while clenching their fists tightly. They were mantally cursing each other while unconsciously using their using their alices.)**

**-**

**-**

**Ryu's last day in class:**

**-**

**Natsume and Ryu were still sitting next to each other. They had to agree to it. It was either that or face Mr. Narumi's uhm… well… let just call it his power's of persuasion (His pheromone alice), which he usually used by acting all mushy, flirting, hugging and worst, kissing his victims. Just the thought of it send shivers down the boy's spine and it was enough to make them agree.**

**-**

**-**

'_**Darn you Hyuuga!'**_

_**-**_

'_**You're a pest Yukushima. Go home already'**_

_**-**_

**Both were exercising a considerable amount of patience trying to prevent themselves from using their alices on each other. Too bad for the class they both suck at it.**

**-**

'_**Burn, Yukushima!'**_

_**-**_

'_**I'll bury you Hyuuga'**_

_**-**_

**After sometime, only four people were left in the room. Mr.Narumi, Natsume, Ruka, and Ryu. The rest of the class went to the clinic feeling sick because the high temperature was draining them of energy and the not-so-light shaking of the ground was making them dizzy.**

**-**

"**Okay then, C-class???" Mr. Narumi was too absorbed with the lesson that he hadn't notice that his class gone and only three students were left. He looked at the remaining students and figured out what had happened.**

**-**

**(sigh) "Too bad almost no one is around to hear you say goodbye Mr. Yukushima."**

**-**

"**It's ok sensei"**

**-**

"**Still here? Leave already" Natsume said unemotionally with a book covering his face.**

**-**

"**I'll be back Hyuuga and when I see you again we will finish this once and for all"**

**-**

"**Tsk. Fine by me freak."**

**End of Flash back.**

**-**

**-**

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-

Ryu and Mikan stopped in front of a large structure. The gates were closed so they decided to approach the guards.

-

"Sorry only students are allowed inside" the guard said.

-

"Oh, but I was really expecting to see Hotaru" Mikan said with a hint of disappointment in her tone.

-

"Let's stay at my uncle house while we're here. I think that's where my cousin is also staying at. You'll get to see her soon don't worry."

-

-

-

_To be continued…_

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**So how was it? Please feel free to tell me anything and ask me of you're confused about some things. Sorry about the grammar and spelling errors, I didn't have time to proofread.**

**-**

**-**

**The next one is about Mikan's first day at the academy…**

**-**

**-**

**Thanks for reading**

**-R&R be gentle please…**


	5. Meet the Mysterious Hooded Girl

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice and its characters. Never have.

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a Medieval setting.

**Bold texts are flashbacks**

**-**

'_Italicized texts in single quotation marks are thoughts'_

_-_

CAPITALIZED TEXRS ARE GIVEN EMPHASIS AND/OR SPOKEN OUT REALLY LOUD

The Kingdom of Alice

-

Chapter 5: Meet the Mysterious Hooded Girl

-

_Previously:_

-

_Ryu and Mikan stopped in front of a large structure. The gates were closed so they decided to approach the guards. _

_-_

"_Sorry only students are allowed inside" the guard said._

_-_

"_Oh, but I was really expecting to see Hotaru" Mikan said with a hint of disappointment in her tone._

_-_

"_Let's stay at my uncle's house while we're here. I think that's where my cousin is also staying at. You'll get to see her soon don't worry."_

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-

-

Ryu and Mikan were walking side by side in the busy streets of Central Town. They were heading for the place where Ryu's uncle lives. They hope to see Hotaru there since it was also the place where she was probably staying at. On their way there, they couldn't help but attract attention for themselves. (because of Ryu's good looks and Mikan's uhm… er… bizarreness)

-

"Hey, isn't that Ryu over there?" asked a certain pink haired girl.

"You mean our classmate from last year? Yeah that's him alright. Hey Ana, who do you think was that girl with him?" inquired the blue haired girl.

"I don't know Nonoko, but she had really pretty eyes. I wonder why she needs the hood. What do you think Koko?" Anna asked her spiky-haired friend.

"Hmmmm… maybe… just maybe…" Koko started as Anna's and Nonoko's eyes widened waiting for what the Mind-reader was going to say.

"Maybe what? Come on Koko don't leave us hanging" the girls said as they shook Koko's shoulders.

"Alright, alright already. I'll tell you what I think" said Koko.

"and???"

"Maybe she's some kind of super hero and the hood she's wearing is to conceal her identity from evil-doers" Koko said rather confidently. "Or maybe she's some kind of girl with a mysterious past and Ryu's guarding her because she's someone of great importance."

Ana and Nonoko just sweatdropped. "Koko you really have an overactive imagination you know."

Just then, Koko's faced turned serious. It was very unlikely for him to act this way. The girls just stared at him waiting for what he was going say next.

"But there is something about her…" Koko said as his face became more serious.

"What?" both the girls asked curiously as they saw the sudden change in reaction of the mind-reader.

"Her mind… I can't seem to read her… mind" Koko said in disbelief. This was probably the first time that his alice didn't work on anyone. He tried to get answers from reading Ryu's mind, but Ryu already knew what he was doing so he avoided Koko's alice. (Koko's alice can be avoided by clouding your mind so he won't be able to read what you need to keep secret, but that's merely masking your thoughts with other thoughts. It's not the same case with the girl; he can't read anything at all.)

-

Mikan noticed all the attention directed at them. She stopped walking and turned to face Ryu.

"Ryu-kun, the people are staring at us", said the brunette girl shyly being a bit embarrassed of all the attention.

Ryu noticed three familiar people talking to each other. He recognized them as his classmates from last year. He noticed the mind reader staring at the girl beside him. He decided to go to them to see what they were talking about or see if they have found out something.

"Mikan stay here for a while. I'm gonna talk to someone first." Ryu said. Before Mikan was able to say anything Ryu had already started walking towards the direction of the spiky-haired boy.

"I wonder if He's Ryu's friend." _'(sigh) he could have at least introduced me…'_ the brunette thought as she looked at Ryu's retreating figure.

-

-

Ryu walk towards Koko, Ana, and Nonoko. Koko and the girls waved at him as he nodded in response.

-

"Long time no see, Ryu", greeted Koko.

"You too, Koko" replied Ryu emotionlessly.

"So are you gonna be studying at the academy again Ryu?" asked Anna.

"I'm not entirely sure but perhaps I might. I came back to see my cousin and I think she's studying there" He answered.

"So who's that girl with you?" this time it was Nonoko who asked. "Is she your girlfriend? How sweet!!!" Ana and Nonoko said at the same time.

"u-hh. No, she isn't. She's just a friend of mine. Yeah, in fact we're best friends." Ryu said trying to be as expressionless as always while hiding his blush. Unfortunately, he let his guard down for a second and Koko was able to read a part of his mind clearly.

"Yup they're best friends alright but I guess you want to be MORE… Right, Ryu?" Koko said with a grin on his face while winking at Ryu.

Ryu was threatening Koko in his mind while the girls just giggled. _'If you ever mention this to anyone I swear I'll bury you and you will never see the bright of day again, got it?'_

They felt the ground shake lightly as Ryu glared at them and they automatically knew what it meant. _(tell anyone and you're dead)_ The three sweatdropped as they nodded in response. Ryu just smirked satisfied with their reaction.

-

"I have to go guys. Maybe I'll see you some other time. Bye", Ryu said as he waved goodbye to the three. '_They don't know anything. That's good'_

-

"What took you so long Ryu-kun? I'm hungry." Mikan said.

"Come on. My uncle's house isn't that far from here" Ryu said as he signaled the brunette to follow him.

-

-

-

When they finally reached their destination, what Mikan saw wasn't exactly a house. It was a mansion. It had a huge garden filled with different types of plants. It also had a mini zoo because Ryu's uncle loves to take care of animals. There was also a man made pool that looked like natural hot springs.

Ryu's uncle let them in and greeted them inside the house.

"Welcome, Ryu. How have you been?" a man with pitch-black eyes said. He was old and he had white hair and a short white beard.

"Thanks for letting us stay uncle. I'm fine. Is my cousin here?" Ryu asked.

"No need to thank me for that you know I'm very fond of you and your cousin since I don't have children of my own. Speaking of your cousin, I think she told me that she'll be staying at the academy for a week. She's going to work on her inventions and present it to the king himself."

The old man noticed the hooded girl beside Ryu. "Ah, Ryu you haven't introduced me to your friend there. Ms. Sakura I presume?"

"Uhm..er…I am ah.." Mikan was hesitant of telling the man her identity.

"It's ok Mikan. You can trust uncle Hiro with your identity." Ryu assured her.

"Oh, ok then. My name is Mikan Sakura, nullifying and ability theft/copy alice, pleased to meet you. Please don't tell anyone about me and my alice I really don't want to go to jail." Mikan said to the old man as she carefully removed her hood.

'_Very clever Ryu, you convinced her to hide her true identity without her even knowing it herself.' _Uncle Hiro thought as he chuckled a bit. "Don't worry Mikan. You're secret is safe with me. I suppose you also don't want people knowing how beautiful you are."

"E-eh?" Mikan looked at the old man confusion apparent on her face.

"You know, the hood and the cloth. What else are they for?" the old man wondered.

"Oh, these. They are Ryu's idea. Even I don't know what they are for." She said as she looked at Ryu questioningly.

"Just keep wearing it and no questions asked. Remember our agreement Mikan", Ryu said as Mikan pouted.

Uncle Hiro just laughed as he saw the two bickering. '_He still hasn't told her how he feels'_ He shook his head gently as a smile graced his lips.

"Anyway, I guess I have to enroll you guys at the academy as well. Since that's the only way you'll be able to see Hotaru."

"Thank you so much! We would really appreciate that Mr. Yukushima." Mikan said.

"No need to be formal Mikan. You can call me uncle Hiro." The old man said and smiled at the brunette.

"Uncle don't forget, Mikan's name is Miyu Sake and she has a barrier alice." Ryu said as he smirked at Mikan.

"Uhm… Ok." Uncle Hiro sweatdropped at the peculiarity of the name. "You start tomorrow. For know, get some rest. Ryu show Ms. Sake to her room."

"OOwww… Do I really have to use that name?" Mikan pouted as her eyes sparkled a little making her look really cute. She was hoping that Ryu wouldn't be able to resist. Unfortunately for her, Ryu saw this coming so he didn't even bother to look at her.

"Yes" Ryu replied nonchalantly though inside you can see him smirking widely.

"Hn" she crossed her arms in front of her and stuck her tongue out at Ryu.

-

Ryu showed Mikan to her new room. It was huge and it had a clear view of the sunset on one of its windows. Mikan and Ryu went to bed early after having their dinner. They were too tired to stay up because of the things that happened earlier.

* * *

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* * *

- 

The next day, Ryu woke up early because he knew Mikan was a heavy sleeper and she needed someone to wake her up. He walked to her door and knocked.

-

"Mikan time to get up and don't forget your hood."

"H-hotaru?"

"NO it's Ryu. If you wanna see my cousin, you'd be ready by now."

"Huh? Oh, yeah right."

-

Mikan took a bath and got dressed. She fixed her hair into a braided ponytail tied with whit laces and wore one of her laced dresses. She wore her cloak and put her hood on including the cloth which covered half of her face.

Uncle Hiro insisted that they get escorted to the academy with one of his private coaches. When they arrived at the academy they found a man with blond hair waiting for their arrival.

"Ah, Ryu welcome back and you too Ms. Sake welcome to the academy. I'm Mr. Narumi. You can also call me Narumi-sensei"

"Nice to meet you sensei" Mikan said as Ryu just nodded.

"Err.. What's with the hood?" Mr. Narumi asked as he looked at Mikan.

"It's nothing. Let's go." Ryu said.

"Ok then" He knew it was really none of his business to ask though he was still a bit curious. Mr. Narumi led the way to the classroom. "Ms. Sake, we still don't know what your star system is. Mr. Jinno will be the one to test you for that. You will meet him later."

-

-

The class was nosier than usual. Apparently, news of Ryu's return had already spread and the whole class was talking about it. The class went silent when the door opened and the teacher came in.

-

"Class today we have two new students joining our class. Most of you might still remember one of them." He signaled the new students to enter.

-

The girls squealed as Ryu entered but they became silent when they saw the hooded girl behind him. All eyes were on her. The whole class found her to be interesting if not creepy. They wondered why she had to hide her face from them. (She herself wondered why she had to do that. Well it's because of Ryu's over protectiveness.)

-

"Sensei, why does she have to wear that?" a girl with green eyes and short hair with perm asked.

"Well I-" Mr. Narumi said but was interrupted by somebody.

"You shouldn't poke your nose into other peoples business" a girl with ebony hair and amethyst colored eyes said. She stood up from her seat and went over to where the new students were.

"HOTARUU!!! I've missed you", cried the hooded mystery girl as she hugged her best friend. The whole class just stared at them.

"I'm sorry cousin but she really wanted to see you and you

know how she's like when she wants something really bad." Ryu said to his cousin still with no emotion on his face.

"Don't worry about it. (sigh) I know how the idiot thinks." She replied with equal nonchalance. She looked at the oddly dressed girl hugging her. "I'm only gonna let you hug me because we weren't able to see each other until now."

Mikan nodded and she released Hotaru from her embraced and asked. "Why weren't you sending us letters Hotaru? I was worried sick about you."

"I'm busy" She lied. There is another reason why she didn't reply to any of the letters sent to her. Students or any other citizens that came from outside the capital are being observed carefully to make sure that they aren't spies sent by the Anti-Alice Empire.

"It doesn't matter Hotaru. I'm just glad that I am able to see my best friend again"

-

The class was still quiet. They were observing the reunion taking place right in front of their eyes. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Hotaru Imai the seemingly coldhearted girl actually has a best FRIEND and Ryu Yukushima is her cousin.

-

When Mikan finally realized that the class had been observing them, she decided to break the silence and introduce herself.

"Hi everybody! My name is Miyu Sake and I have the barrier alice" She said as she faced the class.

As she told the class her name, the atmosphere in the room began to change. The whole class tried their best to sustain the silence but to no avail. Soon giggles were heard across the room.

The whole class was trying to contain themselves from laughing. Hotaru and Ryu had smirks on their faces and Mikan was holding her fist up and thinking of several ways to get back at Ryu. _'I need to do it in a place where there'll be no witnesses. It needs to be a clean job and I have to get rid of all the evidences. Hmm… maybe I'll just hire someone to do it.'_ (Yup, she was thinking of killing him. Hehehe Of course she's not really gonna do that)

The whole class became quiet as the doors slammed open revealing two very angry boys. The raven haired boy focused his eyes on Ryu and gave him a death glare. Ryu in turn just smirked at him. The whole class was already in panic even though none of them dared to move. They didn't want to return to the hospital, it was just too expensive. Mikan just stared at the two boys who just arrived.

-

"I see you're late Hyuuga." Ryu said with a smirk still plastered on his face. He just loves it when he sees Natsume really pissed off and he's the reason.

"Don't give us that talk. We almost got killed yesterday because of you." The blond haired boy with a rabbit on his shoulder said.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Ryu said with no expression visible on his face but with a hint of amusement on his tone. "You were in the palace the whole time weren't you your HIGHness. I was at the park. We couldn't have possibly met unless you sneaked out, but you wouldn't do that right?"

Ruka was taken aback by his reply. _'He's right. We can't let anyone know that Natsume and I sneaked out of the Palace'_

(By the way, in case you were wondering, Ruka is the son of the King's most trusted advisor)

"Hn." Natsume grunted as he entered the classroom.

He noticed the hooded girl as he was walking towards his seat. His deep crimson eyes met her warm hazel eyes. For a moment there it almost seemed that time stopped for the two of them. Natsume sat down on his seat then Ruka followed him still glaring at Ryu. Students began gathering around the strange lass and asking her different questions. Natsume on the other hand was still staring at the mystery girl.

-

'_She's strange. Yukushima, What are you hiding? Why does it seem that he's protecting her? What is she hiding?'_ Natsume thought.

"Maybe he's just in love with her." A certain mind reader said as he also stared at the girl who was already suffocating because of all the students around her.

Natsume glared at the mind reader then at Ryu. He answered Koko through his thoughts. _'Tsk. Love? I don't think it's just that. He's definitely hiding something'_

"I think he's just being overprotective of her. I was able to read his mind yesterday when I caught him off guard, but I can't shake the feeling that there is something else about that girl." Koko said as he looked at Natsume.

Ruka who had been listening to their conversation decided to say something. "I didn't think Yukushima was the type that would like any girl at all. He is just as rough to his fan girls as you Natsume." (Yes, Ryu also used some uhm.. unnecessary methods to escape from his fan girls. I know I said he was a complete gentleman but that depends on the situation. And when it comes to fan girls, the situation was life or death. Remember they all had alices.)

"I wonder what she looks like anyway", wondered Koko.

"Let's find out then" Natsume said as he snapped his fingers. He was expecting something to happen, but to his surprise there was nothing.

"Is that how the barrier alice is suppose to work?" Ruka asked.

"No effect huh? Same thing happens to me when I try to use my alice on her." Koko said.

Natsume was deep in thought wondering about why his alice didn't work. If it was caused by a barrier then his alice would have just fluctuated and he would still be able to produce even just a small flame since his alice is really powerful. His alice shouldn't be completely cancelled out, and she would have felt something, but she didn't look affected at all. Now he's really curious and you know how geniuses are when they're curious…

-

Meanwhile, in front of the classroom:

-

"Ok class. Take your seats now. Mr. Jinno will be arriving soon and he'll be the one giving Miss. Sake her star ranking. I'll leave you know, bye!" Mr. Narumi said as he waved at his students and walked out the door.

"Hi Miyu!" a blue haired girl and a pink haired girl greeted Mikan at the same time.

"I'm Anna and she's Nonoko nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too!" Mikan replied.

"I'm Yuu Tobita and I am the class representative" a boy with blond hair and glasses said as he shook Mikan's hand.

"Sumire Shouda, president of the Natsume-Ruka-Ryu fan club. May I ask what your relationship with Ryu-sama is?" the girl with the perm asked.

"Well, Ryu-kun is my best friend. Nice to meet you by the way." She said as she flashed one of her brightest smile. Too bad no one can see it.

"Hmph. Fine just stay away from our guys ok?"

"O-ok" Mikan said as she sweatdropped at Sumire's possessiveness.

"Guys I think we better take our seats Mr. Jinno might arrive soon" Yuu said.

"Oh, but where do I si-.." Mikan was interrupted when Mr. Narumi popped his head through the door.

"That reminds me, Ms. Sake, you will be partners with Natsume. He'll be the one showing you around since Mr. Yukushima already knows the place and he has a lot of catching up to do with his training in the combination classes. Natsume will also be your seatmate. Oh and Ryu, your trainer is already waiting for you. You'll be excused from classes today. Come on." Mr. Narumi dragged Ryu outside before he could even say anything. As he was leaving, he couldn't help but grin at what he had just done. _'This is gonna be interesting…'_ (Oh yeah, Ryu's alice belong to the dangerous ability type he had to catch up with all the training he had missed. Can you guess who their trainer is? Of course you can, he's also Natsume's trainer.)

-

"Natsume? Who's that? I think I've heard his name before. He's the one in Your fan club right?" Mikan said as she looked at Sumire.

"You mean you don't know who the prince is." Everyone except Hotaru said in disbelief.

"P-prince?" suddenly, the events that occurred yesterday came flashing in Mikan's head. She turned her head to the back of the room and glared at the boy seated there.

"Y-your Natsume? M-my partner? The guy who called me an OLD HAG yesterday?" She asked the boy while her eyebrows twitched. She clenched her fists tightly and raised it towards his direction.

"Yeah, so?" he replied nonchalantly as he slouched back on his seat.

"_sigh!_ Look we got off on the wrong foot yesterday. Let's try this again ok? Hi! I'm Miyu Sake. Nice to meet you!" she said sweetly as she finally calmed down.

"Hn."

"Don't mind Natsume. He's just in a bad mood. My name's Koko by the way."

"Oh, Hi Koko and …?" she looked at Koko then glanced at the blond boy sitting beside Natsume.

"Ruka Nogi" the boy said.

"Nice to meet you Ruka!" she said in such a sweet voice that it made most of the boys in the class blush.

Mikan took a sat down beside Natsume. Natsume had a book covering his face to make it look that he was sleeping, but he was actually trying to use his alice on Mikan. _'Wonder why it doesn't work'_

Moments later, Mr. Jinno entered the room. He glanced at Mikan and walked towards her.

"You must be the new student here. Let me brief you about your combination classes. You will be one of the special ability types. And about your star ranking… I'll give you a little test first."

"Eh? A test?" Mikan bent her head a little indicating that she didn't understand.

"Yes and I suppose we could begin now"

"So what's my test sensei?"

"Your test will consist of three parts. First will be the test of intelligence. Next, is the test of your alices strength and the last test will be an obedience test. Do you understand so far Ms. Sake?" he said as he glared at her.

"Yes, Sensei." _'(gulp) Jinno-sensei is really scary'_

-

"Ok let's begin now. The rest of you just watch and be quiet." Mr. Jinno said as the whole class nodded and watched closely. This was probably the first time that such a test was taken in order to determine the star ranking. None of them knew the reason why only this girl had to take the test. Hotaru watched Mr. Jinno intently while Natsume (with a book still covering his face) was paying really close attention to what was going on.

"Ok For the test of intelligence I want you to answer some questions."

"Y-yes?" Mikan said feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"First question: What are the three dominions in our land?"

'_The first question is really easy anyone would know about that'_ everybody thought except for Hotaru who looked expressionless but was really worried for her friend deep inside. She knew Mikan didn't know the answer because no one has ever really told her anything about the land. She didn't even know about alices until Ryu told her about it. No one told her anything because they were trying their best to keep her identity secret.

"Uhm… err… What?" Mikan said asked she tilted her head continuously. (the three domains are the AA empire, the Alice kingdom, and the dark realm)

"Maybe you just didn't understand the question. I'll give you a clue. You are currently at the first domain."

"Err, the a-academy?"

Everyone fell down from their seat. They couldn't believe that anyone could be **that **stupid. (she's not really **that** stupid she just really didn't know) It was as if she lived in another planet for her not to know the answer.

"(sigh) Ok I'll give you an easier question. What is the name of our king? You can give his last name to make it easier." Mr. Jinno said.

'_Surely she'll know the answer to that no girl in her right mind wouldn't know Natsume's whole name even if she was stupid'_ everyone thought confidently.

"Oh, uhm…" _'Think Mikan! What did Ryu-kun call Natsume before… it was Hyu—something… that has to be the kings name Natsume is his son right? Hyuu---something, Hyuu—go?, hyuu-uhh I don't know… arghh! Sigh!'_ "I think it was uhm…errr.. King Hyuu.. Ehem(cough, cough, cough)?" she said as she sweatdropped. _'Hope he bought it'_

Hotaru hit her head with her hand. _'Nice one baka. Now it's not that obvious that you don't know the answer'_ she thought sarcastically.

"Come again Ms. Sake. I didn't hear you that well. King Hyu… what?" Mr. Jinno said impatiently.

"Uhm… Its… its… King Hyuu-Natsume's dad!" she ran out of things to say. '_sigh! I must've sounded like an idiot'_

Everyone in the class sweatdropped at Mikan's desperate attempt to hide her ignorance. _'Is she for real'_ everyone thought (including Natsume) except for Hotaru.

"Last question, Miss Sake if you fail to answer this you might loose your chance of being a special star or three star."

"O-ok." She said nervously.

"What does AA in AA empire stand for?"

"I think I know this one. Alice Academy Empire, right?" she said in a definite tone.

Everyone in class including Hotaru sweatdropped. _'What planet did she come from anyway?'_

"Wrong. We will now proceed to test the strength of your Alice. If it's strong enough you can still be a special star or a three star." Mr. Jinno said.

Mikan nodded. "Hai, sensei I'm ready."

"You see that." Mr. Jinno said as he pointed at a little cactus on the teachers table. "I will use my electricity Alice on it. Your task is to put a barrier around it so it won't get affected. Got it?"

"H-hai" she said hesitantly. _'B-but the alice stone Ryu gave has only a small amount of power left. I can't use that much otherwise there'd would be nothing left. I can't use my nullifying alice, Ryu-kun said the teachers might notice. He said I should only activate part of my alice and only to myself so that I'll be able to avoid the mind reading alice, see through (X-ray) vision alice and other alices that could expose my identity.'_ (Let's just say that the difference between the nullifying alice and the barrier alice is that the nullifying alice cancels other alices while the barrier alice restrains the person from using his/her alice by creating a force field around a certain area. Meaning the person should still be able to use his/her alice if the amount of power employed is strong enough against the barrier. If you have any questions feel free to ask.)

"Get ready Miss Sake. We'll try a small electric attack first, and then I'll increase the power to see how strong your alice really is." Mr. Jinno lifted his stick and pointed at the plant.

'_What am I gonna do? I'll just make a small barrier'_. She made a small barrier around the plant. It was so small that it didn't even do anything to protect the poor plant from Mr. Jinno's **weak** electric attack. The cactus caught fire and was now burning. (poor cactus!)

'_She's so weak. Doesn't she know how to use her own alice?'_ Mr. Jinno and the rest of the class thought. (Excluding Hotaru)

'_How is she able to avoid my alice but not be able to counter that scrawny attack?'_ thought Natsume.

"You failed the second test. Luckily for you there is still the obedience test. You might still have a chance."

"O-ok" Mikan was really having such a tough time.

'_Let's see. What could be so simple that even she can do? Oh yes my lunch. I think I still have it in my pocket. This will do'_ Mr. Jinno thought. "This is something anyone can do Ms. Sake. You just have to do what I say without questions. I'll make it really simple so that even a toddler can do it."

"H-hai, sensei"

"I want you to eat this apple. You don't have to finish it just take a bite."

Everyone in class sweatdropped at the bizarre task. This part of the test might have been made up out of pity so that anyone would be able to pass it. Unfortunately, Mikan wasn't just anyone, was she? Apparently the apple wasn't any ordinary apple, it could talk.

"Please don't eat me?" the apple looked at her with teary puppy dog eyes.

"O-oh, no of course not. I can't eat you." _'Even if I fail it will be ok. I just can't eat anything that has a face and can talk.'_ "In fact, I think I'm gonna keep you. I'm gonna name you uhm… errr… Mango. Yeah, Mango that'd be a great name for you." She said to the apple I mean Mango errr… whatever. They were all sweatdropping at the scene, including the apple.

"Ms. Sake you do realize you've just failed all three tasks right?"

"Uhm.. yes sir." She said as she took Mango and put him on her shoulder.

"I suppose I could give you one last chance. Your final task will be taking your hood off. Show as your face and you'll become a one star. I hope that consideration is enough. Surely, you'll be able to do it this time?"

"Uhm… well you see-"

"Just show as your face little girl" Natsume said as he removed the book that was covering his face. The whole class was shocked at his sudden interest at the girl. The fan girls became really jealous.

"I'm sorry but I can't."_ 'I promised Ryu that I wouldn't'_ Mikan never breaks her promises.

"Very well you will be a no star then. You will all be dismissed early today. Miss Sake get some rest because you're gonna need it. No stars do chores around here and since you are the only no star in the academy you'll have plenty to do." Mr. Jinno said as he left the room.

Everyone at class was glaring at Mikan. The girls were jealous of the attention she got from Natsume while the others didn't like the fact that she didn't do what Natsume told her to. Who does she think she is any way? She's a nobody. A weirdo who can't even use her alice. If only they knew…

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Ryu took a break from his training to see how Mikan was doing. He went back to the classroom only to find Mikan being disheartened by his classmates. Hotaru would have beaten the life out of them if Mikan didn't give her a pleading look saying she shouldn't. Hotaru walked over to Ryu and told her what had happened. He grabbed Mikan's arm and took her outside to talk with her. 

-

"You know you could have just removed your hood. I wouldn't get angry at you."

"It's Ok Ryu-kun. What's important is that I kept my promise. Don't worry about me I can manage." She said. "Besides, now I've got Mango to cheer me up"

"M-mango?" He said as he looked at the apple on Mikan's shoulder. He sweatdropped.

"Don't ask" Hotaru said.

"About the chores you're gonna do I'm gonna do it for you." Ryu said.

"N-no. You, Hotaru, Grandpa and the other people in the village were always doing stuff for me. You don't le me do anything. I'm quite capable to you know." Mikan said as she shook her head. (All the people in the village, since there were only few, knew about Mikan and they have been the ones assigned to protect her. They weren't ordinary villagers at all. They were all skilled and are loyal to Mikan's parents)

"Fine, but we're still gonna help you. Idiot." Hotaru said.

"Oh, Thank you Hotaru, Ryu-kun" Mikan said happily.

"I'm gonna go now Ok? I need to get back to my training" Ryu said as he walked away from them.

"Me too, Mikan, I have to go. I have to finish my inventions and I need to be alone to be able to concentrate. I want you to keep out of trouble got it? Maybe you could wait for me and Ryu at the academy park, people rarely go there." Hotaru said as she waved and left.

"Hai."

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Mikan was on her way to the park when she passed by a group of students. Some were from her class. She heard them taunting her as she walked by. 

"Hey if it isn't the no star girl!"

"You know you should really stay away from Yukushima-kun and Imai-san. You'll only embarrass them both."

"Yeah. It didn't take them much to have high star rankings."

Mikan couldn't take them anymore. She ran as fast as she could to get away from them. _'Maybe they're right? Am I just a burden to Hotaru and Ryu-kun?'_ She ran until she reached an area where there were no people around. She took her seat under the shade of a huge Sakura tree. She began crying silently.

"What's wrong princess?" Mango asked. Mango decided to call Mikan 'princess' because she was kind and gentle and she saved his life.

"Nothing Mango, I'm fine don't worry about me Mango." She said while wiping away her tears.

"You shouldn't care what they think. They're just meanies" Mango said with such a cute voice. "Princess, why don't you take your cloak off the wind feels great. No one is around anyway and master Ryu said that it was ok, right? Besides, I want to see you smile."

"This cloak is uncomfortable and I would love to feel the wing on my skin again, just like in the village. Ok, if you want I'll even sing you a song my grandpa taught me. It always helps to cheer me up." She said as she slowly removed her cloak revealing her beautiful dress and her even more beautiful face.

"Ok" the apple chirped happily.

Mikan sat down as she sang to Mango. Her beautiful voice was filling the air. (Let's just say she's singing the ending song in the anime of Gakuen Alice.)

Meanwhile a Ruka was on his way to find his best friend when… _'What a beautiful voice… where is it coming from?_ He followed the melodic voice to the sakura tree (while carrying his rabbit). There he found a beautiful girl with warm hazel eyes and beautiful auburn hair (tied in a braided ponytail) singing with her eyes half closed.

The girl saw Ruka standing right in front of her. "R-ruka?" Ruka blushed as he heard the girl say his name. He tried to look away but his eyes won't let him, she was just too beautiful. He saw Mango sleeping at the girl's lap and realized who the girl was.

-

"M-miyu?"

-

-

_To be continued…_

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**Please Read and Review…**

**Thank you so much to all those who read the past chapters and to all those who reviewed…**

**Please feel free to tell or ask me anything at all… as long as you do it in a gentle way…**


	6. Surprise Attack!

_**Hi! I'm sorry if I can't update any faster. I'm trying my best to finish this a.s.a.p. for those who want me too. Oh, and the reason why I haven't updated my other fic is because I still need to watch the anime again because I'm planning to make Yuu's chapter next and I'm still researching about him.**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice and its characters. Never have.

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a Medieval setting.

The Kingdom of Alice

-

Chapter 6: Surprise Attack!!!

_-_

_Previously:_

_-_

_Ruka was on his way to find his best friend when… 'What a beautiful voice… where is it coming from?' He followed the melodic voice to the sakura tree (while carrying his rabbit). There he found a beautiful girl with warm hazel eyes and beautiful auburn hair (tied in a braided ponytail) singing with her eyes half closed. _

_The girl saw Ruka standing right in front of her. "R-ruka?" Ruka blushed as he heard the girl say his name. He tried to look away but his eyes won't let him, she was just too beautiful. He saw Mango sleeping at the girl's lap and realized who the girl was._

_-_

"_M-miyu?"_

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-

There was silence between them…

-

Mikan didn't know how to react. She was shocked. '_Oh, what do I do? Hmm… Ryu did say it was ok. I don't even know what the hood was for anyway. Ruka does look nice, maybe I can trust him. Maybe it'll be ok if I show him how I look, anyway he did already see me and he's still staring at me…w- wait a minute, h-he's s-still s-s-staring… Is there something on my face or what? This is really awkward…'_

-

Mikan stared back at Ruka. She was wondering why he was staring at her intently. She tried calling out his name but it was as if he was physically present but mentally absent. Ruka was still gazing at her and as each moment passed he would feel his cheeks getting warmer and warmer. He was in a deep trance. Her beauty was captivating and he was under a spell.

-

What broke the spell was a squeaky cry for help. "Help me princess, the w-wabbit is gonna eat me." Cried the oddly named apple. Ruka was too absorbed by Mikan that he didn't notice his rabbit had already jumped off his arms in search for food.

-

Mikan stood up from her seat and rushed to where the helpless fruit was.

"Oh, it's ok Mango I'm not gonna let anything happen to you and I'm sure Mr. Bunny was just trying to play with you." She grabbed the teary eyed apple and placed it on her shoulder. She then took the rabbit in her arms and smiled at Ruka. (_I really love apples and mangoes, sorry if it's too weird!)_

"Right Ruka?"

"h-huh. Oh, r-right. Ruru just ate. I guess he was just trying to make friends with your Mango er… I mean apple" Ruka said as he blushed.

"See Mango, nothing to worry about. We're all friends, right Ruka-pyon?" she said as she beamed one of her brightest smiles.

" Uhm…Yeah." He said as he nodded. His face was still red but it was oblivious to the brunette.

"Great! I can trust you right Ruka-pyon? Since you're my friend now, I guess it'll be ok if you see me without the cloak thingy… Ryu did say the cloak was to protect me but I know you're a nice person and you wouldn't hurt anyone." She said happily.

'_Ryu must really care for her. The cloak was for more than just protection it was probably for eliminating the chances of having a rival with her. Koko did say Ryu loves her. Ryu he's just like Natsume, very possessive'_ He smiled at the thought and nodded at the girl.

"I'll take that as a yes." She smiled.

Ruka remembered what had happened yesterday during their first encounter. He felt guilty and he bent his head down apologetically.

"S-sorry about what happened yesterday. I thought you were just pretending not to know about Natsume being the prince. I guess I was wrong. I didn't realize it until earlier when you took Jinno-sensei's tests. You wouldn't fail that test on purpose…" he said, not being able to look at her because of guilt.

She bent down a little making their faces inches a part. Ruka blushed as he saw the girl smiling at him. She held one of his hands in both of hers. "It's ok Ruka-pyon. We are friends now so it doesn't matter."

"O-ok." _'Why can't I speak straight? She's really beautiful_.' Ruka could feel his heart raising. "M-miyu… I feel kinda bad for what happened earlier. It wasn't fair."

"What do you mean?" She asked confusedly

"About the test and your star ranking" he replied.

"Oh, that. Well, I can't really do anything about it now. I really didn't know any of the questions. I wasn't told anything about things concerning the land's dominions and stuff like that. I just found about alices the other day and I just couldn't eat a talking apple nor can I break my promise to Ryu-kun about the cloak thingy. I can't really say it was unfair since it's my fault I don't know about the answers and I'm unfamiliar with my own alice. It was also my choice not to comply with the third test. I don't really mind being a no star, in fact it may just be fun." She said as she smiled warmly.

'_I've never met anyone like her before. She's so mysterious. It seems that even she doesn't know much about herself. It's odd the way she's too optimistic. Even when everything seems to be against her she still manages to smile. I'd like to get to know her better' _Ruka thought as he blushed."I-I want to help you with your chores." He said sternly.

She shook her head gently. "Thanks but there is really no need for that. I don't wanna bother you."

"I can help. I have the animal pheromone. I can ask some of my animal friends to help us. You're not a bother and besides didn't you say it would be fun. Wouldn't it be more enjoyable if you have friends to help you right?" He said as he smiled at her.

"O-ok" _'He looks nice when he smiles'_ she thought as she turned a little red which was barely noticeable.

Mikan and Ruka sat down under the shade of the Sakura tree. Ruka was telling Mikan some information about himself. They were letting Ruru (the rabbit) and Mango play as they watched and laughed at how the two were chasing each other around like cats and mice.

"Hey, Ruka."

"Yes?"

"Why don't you and Natsume don't get along with Ryu-kun?" She asked not looking at him.

Ruka stared at the girl. There was silence until he finally decided to speak up.

"Well, I actually have nothing against Yukushima personally. But…"

"But what?"

"You see Natsume is my best friend and although he may act like a jerk most of the time, he is really a nice person. Yukushima only sees him as an arrogant prince. Whenever Yukushima and Natsume end up together, the tension seems to rise and I guess you know who I end up siding with." Ruka said as he looked at the sky. "When Natsume's not around we actually get along."

"Oh." Was all Mikan could say.

As they were talking, they heard a twig snap. They looked at the direction where it was coming from.

"Ryu-kun, Hotaru!" she stood up from where she was and ran to her two best friends. Ruka also stood up and dusted the dirt of his pants.

"Mik-… yu" Ryu stammered when he saw Ruka.

"Ruka saw me without the cloak thingy. He's my friend now. I know I can trust him. He said he'd also help me with my chores. It's ok right, Ryu-kun?" she asked.

Ryu looked at Ruka who just nodded indicating that **can** be trusted. Ryu nodded back. "Ok Miyu." Ryu said though a bit unsure.

"Idiot. Put your cloak back on we're going to show you around. Nogi, you come too." Hotaru said impassively.

"Uh-h. yeah. Sure." Ruka said completely forgetting about looking for his best friend.

They toured Mikan around the academy then showed her around town. A lot of people were surprised with what they saw.

A girl peculiarly dressed with an apple singing on top of her shoulders… (the people sweatdropped)

Hotaru the cold hearted inventor actually talking to people…

Ryu who was usually indifferent especially to girls was actually walking and talking to one… a bizarre one at that…

Ruka who is known as the prince's best friend was actually seen with other people and not with the prince…

They seem to be enjoying themselves even though they didn't show it. (Even Mikan didn't show it because of her covering)

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Meanwhile… 

-

A certain raven haired boy was walking at the park in the academy grounds. He was obviously looking for someone. He stopped when he overheard a group of people talking. (They were the one's who taunted Mikan before.)

"Can you believe that no star girl? I can't believe Imai-san and Ryu-sama would even bother hanging out with her. And now she even managed to drag Ruka-sama with her too"

"Maybe they just pity her. Ryu-sama and Ruka-sama are so nice!!!"

"Yeah. I guess so… Maybe she has some kind of hypnotic powers or something. She is kinda freaky with the cloak and the apple and all."

"Thinking about it gives me the creeps."

Natsume approached them. His face was serious. "Where's Ruka?"

"Oh, Natsume-sama, We saw them going outside the academy. I think they were gonna tour the no star around." One of the gossipers said. (obviously a fan girl)

"Hn." He turned his back on them and went to look for his best friend.

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Outside the academy… 

-

Mikan was busy admiring every thing around the place. She was clutching one of Hotaru's arms as a five year old child would do to his/her mother. Hotaru didn't seem to mind at all for she did miss her best friend. Ruka was walking besides Hotaru while Ryu was beside Mikan. Surprisingly, Yuu, Koko, Ana, Nonoko were also there. In fact, most of their classmates were.

"Hey what are you guys doing here?" asked the pink haired girl.

"Oh, Hi guys! We were just looking around." Mikan replied. She was about to say something else when…

"Ruka." a very stern voice said coming from behind them.

They turned around only to be met by piercing crimson eyes. He had a bored look on his face but his town indicated he was serious. Ryu just glared at him.

"What did you do to Ruka?" he said questioningly to the cloaked girl though he remained monotonous.

"Natsume, Miyu didn't do anything. I came of my free will. I'm sorry if I made you worry." Ruka said apologetically.

"Hn. Let's go." Natsume said as he turned around ready to walk away. Ruka nodded and said his goodbyes to Mikan and the others.

-

* * *

Somewhere near the place Mikan and the others were… 

A stagecoach was parked in front of a store. Two men sat at the driver's seat. They were looking at Mikan and her classmates.

"Boss, I've finally spotted the target." A man with black hair said to another man sitting beside him.

"Yes and it appears we can have more than what we came for." The man with russet hair and lavender eyes said." The four most useful alice in the academy plus their friends. Tell me what records do we have on our targets."

The man with black hair took out a parchment and began examining it. "The raven haired boy with crimson eyes is the crown prince. His alice is fire."

"Our objective is to capture him and convince him to side with the AA Empire. If we fail to persuade him then we kill him. This will leave the kingdom without an heir and the it will fall into chaos." The russet haired guy said as a smile appeared on his face. He signaled his companion to continue.

"The boy with black hair and eyes is Ryu Yukushima. Like most of the Yukushima he has the Earth alice. It won't be easy convincing him as well but he will be a very useful asset."

"Hmm. Interesting. I wonder if he has already chosen a master to protect? Go on Shido…"

"The girl with black hair and purple eyes is Hotaru Imai. She has the alice of invention. She is currently inventing weapons for the kingdom. The blond haired boy with blue eyes is Ruka Nogi. He has the animal pheromone. The…….." The man continued until he has described all the students they were looking at. All except one cloaked mystery girl. The russet haired man frowned.

"You forgot one." He said.

"Uhm... we don't have any records on her. We haven't seen her before at all." Shido replied nervously.

When they saw that Natsume was about to leave, they both stood up and went to the back of their coach. "Tell the others to get ready. Put a barrier around the targets and tell Kano to put an invisible wall around each of them separately and to make sure that only our men can pass through them. We'll take them down one by one starting with the prince. Make sure to knock the other people out and secure the area. We don't want a commotion that big" Shido nodded and did as he was told.

-

* * *

Back to Mikan and the others… 

Natsume and Ruka were about to leave when… "Ouch…" Anna said while rubbing her forehead. "…that hurt." She bumped into something when she tried to walk to a stall.

Koko was about to help her up when he felt something hit his hand. Natsume held out his hand and was shocked. He was trapped. They all were.

"What's going on?" asked Yuu.

Just as the man ordered they were separated and couldn't get to each other. It was as if they were trapped in separate rooms with invisible walls. Natsume and Ryu tried to use their alice but they found it very exhausting (Because they had to oppose the barrier). Ruka summoned one of his animals but there was also a wall above them. There was no escape. Mikan just stared at them confused. When she was about to ask them what was happening the man with Russet hair appeared before them with twenty other men.

"Prince Natsume Hyuuga, I presume."

Natsume didn't reply he just gave the man a death glare.

"Hmm… Why don't you just come with us so that you and your little friends don't get hurt?" The man said in a mocking tone.

That caught Natsume's attention. "You leave them out of this you freak!" he hissed angrily.

"But why? Wouldn't you be happier if you had friends to accompany you in the Anti Alice Empire?"

"I'd never join your sad excuse for a kingdom. I'd rather die." Natsume said nonchalantly though anger was evident in his eyes.

"Suit yourself. That could be arranged." The man gave his comrades a signal. Half of them went to where Natsume was and started attacking him. Natsume used his alice against theirs. None of his friends could help him because of the invisible wall.

Natsume made a wall of fire to protect him from being hit with ice shards. A guy teleported behind him and kicked him from the back. He barely dodged it. He was feeling exhausted because of the barrier.

"NATSUME!" Ruka shouted when one of the ice shards hit his friend on his left arm.

Mikan was still confused at what was going on. She hasn't moved since her classmates began acting weird. She hasn't even tried to move, she couldn't, and she was too shocked. "Ryu-kun we have to help him." Cried Mikan. Ryu just nodded.

Ryu gathered all his strength to be able to use his alice. He used his earth alice to help shield Natsume against the attacks. He elevated some of the ground to hit some of the men that were attacking. There were too many of them and they were all masters of their alices. Ryu could only use his alice to help because of the invisible wall. He figured it was made by one of the men who were beside the russet haired man who appeared to be their leader. He attacked them with his earth alice by lifting a part of the ground and making it form the shape of a fist. He tried to hit them but they were too fast. Natsume was having a difficult time as well. He was being hit simultaneously by a man with the speed Alice. He engulfed his body in flames so that nothing can touch him. (It didn't hurt him though he had to stop doing it because he needed to breath some air.)

"What's happening? Leave us alone!" Sumire cried. (remember most of the class was there.) One of their classmates tried to use his levitating alice to help. Hotaru couldn't do anything since she was trapped. Yuu also found it difficult to help but he was able to conjure minute illusions to help his friends. The others couldn't use their alice at all because of they were too weak to oppose the barrier.

"So you brats are fighting back eh… What should we do with them Reo-sama?" Shido (the man with black hair) asked their leader.

Reo smirked. "Kano, enclose the walls around those useless brats. We don't need anyone who can't defend themselves." He said referring to the one's who weren't fighting back. (He wasn't seriously gonna squish them, he was trying to irritate Natsume and scare them. He's mean but not **that** evil.)

The walls around Hotaru, Sumire, Ana, Nonoko and other students who couldn't do anything started to closed in. "Hotaru NO!" Mikan shouted.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE." Natsume said with his usual tone but hatred manifesting his face. He beat all the guy attacking him although he was exhausted and badly wounded.

"Then you agree to come with us. All of you…" Reo said.

"What makes you think we'll do that?" this time it was Ryu who asked.

"You're a Yukushima aren't you? You of all people should know that this kingdom is a kingdom of lies." Reo replied.

"I'll come with you." Natsume said calmly though he was panting really hard.

"Didn't you hear what I said? We want all of you especially you four." Reo said while pointing at Natsume, Ruka, Ryu, and Hotaru.

"We'll go." Hotaru said nonchalantly but with a hint of worry in her eyes. "Just leave our friends alone."

"NO! You're only taking me you'll leave them ALL alone." Natsume insisted.

"You're too stubborn Hyuuga. I agree with Hotaru we go you leave." Ryu said. (Ryu and Hotaru were both concerned about Mikan) Mikan wanted to say something but she couldn't find the words.

"No you-" Natsume was interrupted.

"I won't let you go alone Natsume!" Ruka said with concern evident in his calm blue eyes.

"Actually you guys don't have choices. It's either that or the prince dies or you can all die." Reo said.

"None of them are going…" Natsume said. He was dead serious. "You can kill me instead…" Everyone looked at him in disbelief. Reo looked at him and saw that he was serious.

"Fine then." He signaled one of his men to do the job. He had a wind alice.

Mikan finally recovered from her shock. What she did next shocked every one. She walked away from her place as if there was nothing and there was no wall blocking her path. She stood in front of Natsume and spread out her hands trying to block the attack. The man sent out a wind powerful enough to make the roofs of the nearby houses fly. It should have been strong enough to cut Mikan in half, but surprisingly, the only damaged it did was to carry her cloak away. Everyone froze in shock.

"Little girl, step away. What do you think you're doing?" Natsume said he was still on the ground he was weak and couldn't stand up... Her back was facing him so he couldn't see her yet. _'So she has auburn hair huh.'_ He thought.

"Duh, what does it look like I'm doing? I'm trying to protect you." She turned her head, faced him and smiled. "I can't just let you die, can I?"

Natsume was out of words. His pale face due to loss of blood flushed as he saw her angelic face and heard what she said. It wasn't obvious though because his face was covered with some blood.

"…" Natsume opened his mouth but words still won't come out of it. He turned his head trying to look away. He failed. She turned her head back and faced Reo. Natsume was still staring at her even though it was just her back he could see.

"MIK- Miyu! What are you doing? Stay back." Ryu shouted.

"Miyu listen to him." Hotaru said calmly but she was obviously worried. Ryu was too exhausted he was also kneeling on the ground while his hand supported him from falling down. He was panting really hard.

"I-ie, It's my turn to protect you guys." Mikan said with a determined look on her beautiful face.

Reo and his men were still too shocked. Ana, Nonoko, Koko, Yuu and their other classmates couldn't believe what they're seeing. _'She's beautiful. How did she escape the walls?"_ they all thought.

'_How did she do that? Could it be? No it can't be. Only one way to find out.'_ Reo thought.

Reo adjusted his earring. "ALL OF YOU KNEEL DOWN." He spoke loudly. Everyone did what he told them to. They all fell down and kneel.

Mikan was confused. "Hey guys, don't listen to him." She said. She and Reo were the only ones standing up.

'_Now, I can be sure it's her.'_ Reo walked towards her. She stood her ground. "I'm gonna protect my friends no matter what. So don't even try to hurt them."

He stretched out his hand and touched her cheek. _'She even looks like her. They have the same attitude'_

Mikan just stared at him. She was even more confused now. _'Princess'_ he uttered in his mind.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Ryu shouted as he used his last bit of strength to create a wall of earth between Mikan and Reo. Ryu collapsed after that.

'_So she's the one you've decided to protect.' _"Shido, Let's go!" Reo said. Shido and the rest of his men were still a bit lightheaded because of Reo's Alice. The men with the teleportation alice teleported them so that they could escape.

'_That was weird'_ Mikan thought. The walls have been removed so everyone was ably to move freely now though they were all still dizzy.

Mikan knelt down so she could check on Natsume who was now lying on the ground. His arm was bleeding badly. She took her handkerchief and wrapped it around Natsume's injured arm. Natsume was trying his best to stay conscious so he could stare at Mikan more. Once again he failed, he was just to exhausted and so were the rest of them. One by one they fainted (More like fell asleep due to strain).

* * *

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"What am I gonna do now?" Mikan thought. Suddenly Mango appeared on top her head. (He was in one of Mikan's bags the whole time. They got the bags while shopping around town.)

"Maybe you should carry them to the Academy or to Master Ryu's house, princess" the apple chirped.

'_Carry them huh?'_ "It's worth a shot." She thought.

She walked over to Sumire first, thinking that girls would be lighter. (Sumire was the nearest girl to her.) She tried lifting her up. She succeeded with much difficulty _'Permy sure is heavy'_. She was able to carry her for a few feet but then she lost balance and was about to drop her. Thinking fast, she saw a pile of manure and dropped her there. (Hey, it would have been better than hitting the cold hard ground.)

"Great now she stinks." Mikan said while holding her nose.

"I know" Mikan said with a smile. Since she saw one her of classmates using levitation earlier, she was able to copy it. She lifted her classmates and piled them up inside the coach that Reo had left. She squeezed them together like a can of sardines since there were too many of them. She put Sumire in last. _'They are so gonna stink after this.'_

She drove the stage coach towards the Yukushima mansion. Uncle Hiro approached her. She explained everything to him. He ordered his servants to lay the students in different beds. (Yup the house was that big.) Some of the servants also fainted because of the horrid smell (It was intensified because of the closed space in the carriage and probably their sweats). "On second thought, just lay them down on the grass in the garden and turn on the sprinklers when they wake up." Uncle Hiro said as Mikan sweatdropped. (You might be wondering how a sprinkler found it's way in a story that's suppose to take place in a medieval setting, well it's one of Hotaru's invention. Just imagine that she used primitive methods and materials to make them -like wood, etc.-. Same explanation goes for any other strange things in this fic, just think that it was probably because of someone's alice.)

Uncle Hiro told Mikan she should rest. Mikan was really tired. She's just not familiar with using her alice and Reo had used his alice's full blast on her, not to mention the wind guy who almost killed Natsume. When she reached her room, she immediately fell asleep.

* * *

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The next day…

Uncle Hiro told the servants to let the students sleep outside. He asked them to put a large tent across the garden and put blankets on the grass so they could sleep comfortably. They just stank too much to be able to sleep inside. Ryu and the others were about to wake up. They opened their eyes only to be greeted by water splashing on their faces. Bad idea though, the servants actually forgot that the water in the sprinkler system was filled with organic fertilizer. Now, Ryu and the rest smell a hundred times worst.

"What the?" Ryu said.

"Eeeww… What died?" Sumire shrieked.

"We stink" Hotaru said nonchalantly.

"Oh, I left my odor neutralizing chemicals in the school" Nonoko said.

"Oh no, we're late. Judging by the sun's position I'd say it's about 7:45." Yuu said.

(They can already tell time. What did you expect? They are alices after all.)

Hotaru looked at her watch. (A normal analog one, also one of her inventions. Hey, in those times analog clocks were probably Hi-tech.) "Yuu's right. We better be going." She said.

"Aren't we gonna clean ourselves first?" Ruka asked.

"It would be pointless." Natsume said. He has just woken up.

"Hyuuga's right" Ryu said, for once he was agreeing with Natsume.

"Why?" Koko asked.

"Simple, because this smell has probably been clinging to us since yesterday. That means that the exposure to air just favored to the propagation of the odor causing bacteria. Plus, the fertilizer sprinkled to us didn't help much either, our best shot is to get Nonoko's odor neutralizing potion." Hotaru said while glaring at Uncle Hiro who had just arrived. She knew he was the one who sprinkled them with the fertilizer.

"How did you know that this scent has been clinging to us since yesterday?" Mochu, the guy with the levitation alice asked.

"Would he let us sleep outside if we didn't stink?" She said as she pointed at Uncle Hiro. Everyone was now glaring at him. He sweatdropped.

"Now, now, let's not play the blame game. Why don't you just hurry up to school? Don't even bother changing clothes, it won't cover your smell. Hehe." He said as he laughed nervously.

"Where's cloaky?" Natsume said. Everyone looked at him. "Cloaky?" they asked in chorus.

"I think he's referring to Miyu." Hotaru said.

"Oh, she's still asleep. She's the one who brought you guys here." Mr. Hiro said. "Why don't you let her rest for a while? Tell the teachers that she's gonna be really late and excuse her from them. I'll tell her to go to school once she wakes up. I suggest you hurry to school, the more you stay like that, the worse you get. Phew!!!"

They all looked at each other and nodded. They glared at Uncle Hiro and began to leave. They were planning on asking Mikan lots of questions but decided to just wait for her at school. They knew she saved their life and the ones who mistreated her before wanted to make it up to her and apologize.

Natsume couldn't stop thinking about her. _'Who is she?' _He looked at his injured arm and touched the handkerchief tied around it. His wound seems less painful now, it was as if it was never there at all.

* * *

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-

The class arrived at the academy. Everyone was looking at them. Let's just say that no living creature dared to come near them unless it was outside a 500ft radius. They were about to go to the lab but got stopped by Jinno-sensei. Apparently, he was oblivious to their stench.

"Where do you think you're going? Classes are already starting. You can do what you want after my class. I don't even want to know why all of you are fashionably late." He said in a commanding tone.

The class had no choice but to wait for the strict teacher's lesson to finish. Even Natsume stayed in class. He had to if he wanted to be free of the smell.

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-

* * *

Meanwhile somewhere…. 

"I'm sure it's her" a man with russet hair and lavender eyes said.

"Then our long wait is over…" a voice said.

"What actions do we take?"

"For now we wait and observe…"

-

-

-

* * *

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**-**

**Yay! I'm finished with another one…**

**Sorry if the story is too weird I'm actually making this up as I go. (Don't we all?)**

**Please tell me if there is anything that is bothering you with this fic at all. Any thing at all as long as you say it in a nice way.**

**Please correct any spelling or grammatical errors that I've made….**

**R&R**


	7. Kissing the Frog Prince

_**Hey there! Sorry I haven't updated for a long time. Please settle for this for the mean time... I'm really sorry I couldn't update...**_

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice and its characters. Never have. Never will… Poor me…_sobs_

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a Medieval setting.

* * *

**__**

The Kingdom of Alice

-

Chapter 7: Kissing the Frog Prince

_-_

_Last time:_

_The class arrived at the academy. Everyone was looking at them. Let's just say that no living creature dared to come near them unless it was outside a 500ft radius. They were about to go to the lab but got stopped by Jinno-sensei. Apparently, he was oblivious to their stench._

"_Where do you think you're going? Classes are already starting. You can do what you want after my class. I don't even want to know why all of you are fashionably late." He said in a commanding tone._

_The class had no choice but to wait for the strict teacher's lesson to finish. Even Natsume stayed in class. He had to if he wanted to be free of the smell._

_-_

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-

The sun was brightly shining directly above the sky. It was already noon and a certain brunette was still lying lazily in her bed. An apple was busy jumping up and down on her head. "Wake up princess" the apple squeaked, but to no avail. The girl slept like a log.

"Hmmm… Hotaru?" the girl mumbled in her sleep. She kept rolling on bed while hugging her pillow tightly until…

THUG

"Owie… that hurt. What time is it? Oh no! It's already noon, I must've over slept. I am so late." Mikan stood up after falling from her bed. She quickly took a bath and got ready for school. She wore one of her white laced dresses. This time it had blue ribbons and it had a matching cloak too.

"Do I still have to wear this? Aw… Might as well, I did promise Ryu-kun." Mikan tied her hair in a single pony tail with a blue ribbon and wore her cloak to conceal her appearance. "Let's go mango"

"Hai! Princess" uttered the overly energetic fruit as it perched itself on Mikan's shoulder.

Mikan exited the room and proceeded to the halls. There she saw Uncle Hiro. She asked him about her classmates. He told her not to worry because they had already gone to school and that they had probably excused her for being late.

"I'm going to have to inform the palace about the little incident yesterday. Don't worry about it too much. Once the king finds out about the sudden attack, the security around the capital will be tighter. The palace is not that far from the academy. I'm heading there now. Why don't I drop you off there?" Uncle Hiro suggested.

"Uhm.. sure ok. Thanks! Uncle Hiro." Mikan said as she gave Uncle Hiro a hug.

"Haha! Don't mention it Mikan. Now let's go."

"Ok Let's!" Uncle Hiro sweatdropped as he saw the apple squeak.

They proceeded to their coach and drove off to the academy.

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Meanwhile, At the Academy...

-

The school bell rang indicating that it was lunch time. Mikan's classmates went to the academy's laboratory to get Nonoko's odor neutralizing potion.

"This is great they are all ready and we have just about enough for everyone. " Nonoko said as she opened the supply closet and took out a few boxes stacked with bottles that contained her chemicals in all their odor neutralizing glory.

"Great!!! We don't have to stink anymore." Sumire screeched for joy.

"I don't think the potion works on people who are idiots." Hotaru said impassively.

"Hey!" Sumire whined. "I'm not an idiot."

"Hn. Whatever it seems that you're the reason why we stink" Hotaru said.

"What makes you think so Hotaru?" Yuu asked.

"She's the only one among us covered in Manure." It was Ryu who replied this time.

"M-me?" Sumire said as she cried non stop. Everyone was eyeing her suspiciously now.

"It wasn't me I promise." Sumire said as she looked at everyone with watery eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah, whatever." Koko said.

"It doesn't matter we won't find out until Miyu arrives. It seems that she's the only one who doesn't reek." Ryu said.

"Let's just get this over with already." Natsume said casually.

"Oh, ok" Nonoko said as she carefully piled the boxes on top of a nearby table.

"Guys, I'll be back ok. I just need to go to the bathroom. Ana why don't you and Sumire distribute the potion bottles to everyone while I'm gone? I'll be back soon." Nonoko said as she exited the lab.

"Ok." Ana said.

Her classmates lined up and she gave them a box for every four people (the box contained four potion bottles each). When it finally came to the last box, something unexpected happened. Sumire was about to give it away when she tripped over someone's foot.

"Aww!" Sumire said as she rubbed her back. Yuu gave her a hand to help her stand up.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"I'm fine… What hit me?"

"Sorry. I guess you kinda tripped on my foot." Koko said apologetically.

"Uh-oh" Ana exclaimed. "This isn't good."

"What's wrong?" asked Yuu as he looked at Ana's horror stricken face. She just pointed at the box that _used to_ contain the last batch of potion bottles.

"T-they're b-broken." Koko said nervously.

"A-all b-but one." Yuu continued as he gulped.

By now everyone has already drank the elixir except for four very unlucky people. To everyone's dismay, the one's left just had to be the four people who could send them all to an early grave.

"W-what do we do?" Sumire said as she panicked.

"W-who do we give the last potion to?" Koko asked anxiously.

"We give it to the one who could give us the w-worst fate, duh!" Sumire said.

"So we give it to Imai-san then." Koko said as he shivered. "I don't want to be a test subject for her torture devi-… I mean inventions. I still remember her using her catapult on Ruka's rabbit. I can't even mention the horrible schemes she devises in her mind. So creepy.."

"No, that's still survivable you know. G-give it to Ruka-sama. I don't want to be lion feed. Do you guys have any idea on what kind of creatures he could unleash on us?" Sumire said nervously. "It's a brutal way to end my beautiful life…"

"Iie, Let's give it to Yukushima-san." Ana said. "I-I d-don't want to be b-buried alive. It's j-just to c-cruel.. _(gulp)_"

"NO are you guys mad? Being buried won't be that bad. At least we won't have to pay for the memorial services, he'd already give us our own graves. Besides, we could still be spared by them you know. I'd rather give it to Natsume." Yuu said as he gulped and adjusted his glasses. "He won't think twice on incinerating us. I never really fancied being cremated. Who would collect our ashes?"

" _(sniff) (sniff)_ I'm too young to die." Ana said with tears in her eyes.

Everyone was in panic now. Yuu was contemplating on how to resolve the situation. Koko was looking around not knowing what to do when he spotted a container carrying another one of Nonoko's chemicals. It had some kind of label on it. It didn't matter. It had the same color as the odor neutralizing potion. It should do the same right?

He took the container and secretly mixed it with the last bottle of the odor neutralizing potion. He poured it into four separate bottles identical to the original one. Yuu and the rest of his classmates saw what he was doing.

"What are you doing Koko?" Yuu asked worriedly.

"Uhm… err… nothing." Koko was now sweating hard.

"D-don't tell me you're gonna give them t-that? Sumire asked.

"It's better than panicking right? Besides we might as well try. We'll end up in the cemetery either way." Koko said.

"H-he has a point." Ana said.

"O-ok, l-lets try it then." Yuu said.

-

Somewhere, at the same room…

"Oi Ruka, what's taking that potion so long?" asked a bored prince.

"I don't really know Natsume. Everyone seems to have been free of the terrible smell but us. What could be taking them?" the blond haired boy replied.

"Nogi, have you drank the potion yet?" asked an ebony haired girl as she approached the two. The boy in question just shook his head. "How about you Imai? Have you drunk some? You don't seem to stink anymore." Ruka said as he wondered.

"The dress I'm wearing is one of my inventions. It absorbs foul odors. It doesn't exactly get rid of the smell so I still need the potion." Hotaru replied.

"This is odd Ryu. It seems that only the four of us are left with the foul scent." The girl said to the boy beside her.

"What's more, our classmates have been giving us weird looks for a moment now." Ryu said. "Here they come now."

-

Back to Yuu and the others…

-

They were pushing each other towards Hotaru, Ryu, Ruka, and Natsume's direction…

"You do it …"

"No You do it."

"Why me?"

"You're the one who broke them,"

"You're the one who tripped me."

"Ana should go she's the one Nonoko left to distribute the potion"

"Sumire should do it she's the one who was acting all clumsy"

"Yuu should do it. He's the class representative…"

"M-me? I think Koko should take responsibility. You are the one who made Sumire trip and besides, you could tell what they're thinking by reading their minds. Your chances of survival are much higher than ours."

"Yeah,and besides you're the one who came up with this idea." Ana said.

"H-hey that's not true… They'll M-murd-…" before the poor boy could continue, his classmates pushed him to the four who seemed oblivious to their bickering.

"We'll what?" Koko was now looking directly at Natsume's penetrating gaze. He gulped and gathered all his courage to hand them the mystery chemical.

"Oh, your highness. I didn't see you there." By know his knees where trembling. "Well you see, uhm…" He took a deep breath and….

"H-here is the potion…" Koko said as he handed them one each.

The tension was now very intense. Every one was eyeing the four, waiting for what will happen next. Ana hid behind Yuu's back. Yuu was crossing his fingers hoping that nothing bad will happen. Sumire kept on biting her fingernails, good thing they grow back quickly. Koko was staring at the bottles as if they were some kind of bomb ready to explode any minute then.

"Why are you all acting strange?" Hotaru said as she raised one of her eyebrows.

"Strange?Whatdoyoumeanstrange?We'renotactingstrangeatqallnoooseerrreeeenotstrangeatall." Koko said without catching his breath.

"What's wrong with you? Did you forget to breath all of a sudden?" Natsume said impassively.

"Nope. Koko's fine. He really is. Right Koko?" Yuu asked as Koko nodded. They both had goofy smiles plastered on their faces. Ryu eyed them suspiciously.

"Whatever." Natsume said.

The four raised there bottles and began finishing them. They left the empty bottles on the nearby table. Everyone was really silent. What would happen next?

---

-

-

-

Nothing.

-

-

-

Nothing happened much to everyone's relief. The potion worked and their foul odor was gone.

'_That was a relief.'_ Everyone thought.

-

-

Just as everyone was about to leave…

-

"POOF"

They looked back to see what could have made the unusual sound, only to be engulfed with several layers of colorful puffy smoke.

"What the?" Koko muttered.

_(Cough cough cough) _Coughing sounds could be heard throughout the room. The smoke was too thick for anyone to see anything.

Yuu opened a nearby window and the smoke began to clear out. Everyone seemed to be fine. No one was hurt with the exception of four people missing.

"Where is Natsume-sama?" asked Sumire.

"Hmm… He seems to be missing together with Ruka, Ryu and Hotaru." Yuu said.

"Do you think the potion the Koko gave them was an invisibility potion?" Ana said as she looked at Koko.

-

Koko seemed to be glued to where he was. He was staring at something and he had a terrified look on his face.

"What is it Koko?" Sumire asked. Yuu, Ana and Sumire were about to walk over to where Koko was. They stopped on their tracks when…

"KKREBIT"

They were frozen on their spots. _'No way. It can't be.'_ But it is... unfortunately. There was no need to look and see what has happened. It was pretty obvious by now.

In front of Koko was four different colored………….

………..

……….

……….

………

"FROGS?!?!?"

Every one gasped in horror. In front of them were four different colored frogs. One was purple with ebony colored eyes. Another was blue with yellow colored eyes. There was a black one which also had pitch-black eyes and a red one with raven colored eyes. All four were emitting a murderous aura. (Can you guess which is who? Or why they're colored that way? Of course you can)

"W-we t-t-turned them into f-frogs?" Sumire shrieked.

"Uh-oh this is not good." Koko said.

"You think? What was your first clue?" Ana said sarcastically.

"C-calm down guys. I-I'm sure Nonoko has some kind of cure for this." _'I hope. No wish. No pray. No Implore. Yeah I implore... bessech even… Please oh please oh please let there be a cure…' _Yuu thought as he panicked inside his head.

The frogs just glared at them (Frogs can glare? Haha)…. Unlucky for them they still had there alice…

The four seem to be taking the situation quite well. The temperature was just about a hundred degrees instead of a thousand. The ground was shaking and only **small** cracks can be seen forming through the walls. Lovely birds were suddenly encircling the skies (if you consider vultures as lovely). The frogs all seemed to be calm and composed. It's a shame their classmates weren't as calm. They were already panicking. Some already began passing out.

"I-I think I can still read their minds." Koko said.

"W-what are they saying?" Ana wondered.

"I-I'd rather not say…" Koko said. _'I don't think those words have been invented yet. Heck, I didn't even know they existed. Wow, Natsume's really is a genius. He has such a huge and colorful vocabulary. H-hehe. Oh boy. I'm in trouble.'(gulp)_

_-_

**Hotaru's P.O.V.**

'_What do you know, I'm a frog.'_ The frog glared at the people in the room.

'_Looks like someone's gonna be my new lab assistant (test subject)'_

_-_

**Ruka's P.O.V.**

'_Hmmm… this is what it's like to be a frog…'_

'_I feel great…'_

'_oh, I'm supposed to be angry. Right'_ The animal lover glared at his classmates.

-

**Ryu's P.O.V.**

'_Hn'_

_(glare)_

'_Someone asked for a funeral'_

-

**Natsume's P.O.V.**

'_Tsk'_

This frog didn't have to say or think of anything to convey a message. His '**death**' glare said it all. Besides he was already done cursing Koko.

**End of P.O.V**

**-**

**-**

The door to the lab was opened and Nonoko came in.

"Oh hi guys! Sorry it took me a while. Jinno-sensei told me that he is gonna take over Narumi-sensei's class for today. I can't believe we'll be meeting him in class twice in a da—" Nonoko's jaw dropped open when she turned around after closing the door.

The class was in chaos. There were people rolling on the ground trying to put out the fire on their sleeves. Some were being chased by lab rats that seem to have a bad case of rabies. Others were… well they were buried on the ground with either their hands or feet sticking out if not, they were sandwiched between huge cracks on the walls. They were lucky that a certain inventor was incapable of anything drastic at the moment… Then again, that's how lucky as they'll get…

"What on earth?" Nonoko said as she wondered. It all became clear to her when she saw the four frogs in the middle of the room and the empty container of the chemical that Koko mixed with her odor neutralizing potion.

"They didn't… They did… _(sigh)" _Nonoko walked over to where the frogs were.

"Let's see…. The prince, Imai-san, Yukushima-kun, and Nogi-kun." She said as she pointed to each frog respectively. "I really need to talk to Yuu and the others. I need them to explain what happened since I don't speak frog."

The frogs looked at each other and nodded. They stopped using their alice. Nonoko approached Koko and the rest of her classmates to ask them about what was happening. Ana explained everything to her as she listened attentively.

"There is a cure r-right? Nonoko-chan?" Yuu asked nervously.

"_(sigh)_ The potion you made them drink is actually called the 'frog prince potion'. Like the name suggests it follows the famous fairytale about the frog and the princess. This potion works in the same way as the story only the one who kisses them doesn't necessarily need to be a princess. It just has to be their special someone."

"Uhm… what if they don't have a special someone?" Ana asked.

"Well, as long as it is someone they like or really care for most. Close friends count if they don't have anyone else." Nonoko explained.

"Why didn't you say so?" Sumire said. "If you said so earlier Natsume-sama would have been back to normal already. Ruka-sama and Ryu-sama too." She took the red frog. She slowly neared her lips to it. The frog was probably sweating by now if it could.

Before her lips could touch the poor frog, her hair suddenly caught fire. She dropped the frog and dunked her head in a bucket filled with water.

"KREBIT" was all the frog could say. _'darn, that was to close for comfort'_

"Hmmm… best friends would do right?" Koko asked and Nonoko nodded. Koko grinned as he took the blue frog in one hand and the red hand in the other.

By now you could see the black frog smirking while the purple frog covered tried to cover it's mouth with its uhm… er… hands? What was Koko planning?

_'kissy, kissy little froggies...' _Koko thought.

He began closing the distance between the two frogs in his hands. They were both glaring at him. "Now, now, you are best friends and it's better than being a frog for life right?"

He made the frogs' mouths touch. Nothing happened. He tried it for several times as if playing with toy cars and bumping them with each other until the red frog finally had enough. Koko's pants suddenly caught fire.

"KREBIT"_ 'First kiss Hyuuga?'_ the black frog croaked with a smirk.

"KREBIT" '_Shut up Yukushima'_ replied the red frog. Incredibly they could understand each other.

"Why didn't it work? They're best friends right? I don't think I have ever seen his highness with any other friend besides Ruka." Yuu said.

"Hmm…"

"Hmm… what Nonoko?" Ana asked.

"Well it should have worked but it didn't. That means that one of them if not both, has someone he likes." Nonoko said.

"Really?" Sumire said "The prince has finally realized his love for me… Or maybe it's Ruka-sama" she twirled around with sparks in her eyes.

"Fat chance. You already tried a while ago didn't you?" Koko said. _'I know, I'll find out by reading their minds.'_

The frogs glared at him with a glare that said, '_don't even try'_. He gulped.

-

-

It was already time for their next class. They decided they'll just bring the four to the classroom with them. Mr. Jinno was going to take over Mr. Narumi's class so they didn't want to be late.

"Ms. Sake isn't here yet? Where are Mr. Hyuuga, Mr. Nogi, Ms.Imai, and Mr. Yukushima?" Mr.Jinno asked Yuu as he approached. The four frogs were on his desk.

"Uhm… I think they went to the clinic. T-they were feeling sick." Yuu said.

"I see. What are those frogs for?"

"Uhm.. A project for Mr. Narumi's class. We were ask to uhm… experiment with different colors to see which one suits a frog more fashionably?" Yuu said a bit unsure.

"Leave it to Narumi to come up with the weirdest projects." Mr. Jinno said.

Their class started. The whole time, the frog on Mr. Jinno's shoulder kept on winking at Natsume, Ryu, and Ruka. This sent shivers to their spines. It was probably a girl frog, who knew?

The class ended. The red frog jumped out of the window. He probably wanted to relax somewhere.

"Hey, Natsume where are you going?" Koko asked. "Oh well"

"What do we do know?" Ana asked.

Before anyone could answer the doors burst open.

"Hi everyone! I'm sorry I'm really late…" It was Mikan.

"Oh, Hi Miyu! Mr. Narumi's class just ended." Yuu said.

"Oh… Where's Ryu-kun and Hotaru then?" She asked.

"Uhm… well you see…" Koko began explaining. He left out some details on purpose though. Some details like the person has to be someone the frog cares for deeply or likes if not love.

"Hey, maybe you should give it a try? Ryu and Imai-san are your best **friends** right?" Koko said as he winked at the black frog.

"They'll become normal if a close friend kissed them?" she said

Koko just nodded as he grinned.

Mikan, though a bit unsure, just nodded. She took off her cloak. Everyone in the room were wide-eyed. Mikan was really beautiful. She took the purple frog and gave it a quick peck on the head. It began to glow and it transformed into Hotaru. She then took the black one and did the same. It transformed into Ryu. He had a slight blush on his face which he failed to hide.

"Ryu-kun, you look sick? Is something wrong?" Mikan said as she placed on hand on his forehead.

"N-nothing" he said nonchalantly as he looked away.

"Great! Now all that's left is Ruka and the prince." Koko said.

The blue frog was staring at Mikan intently. "Hmm… You said friends count right Nonoko?" Mikan asked.

"Yeah, they should if they have no one else." She replied.

"Ok then," Mikan took the blue frog and kissed it on the head. It glowed ant turned into Ruka who was now completely flushed.

'_What the? They're just friends right? How come it didn't work with Natsume before? They are best friends after all… Unless Ruka actually likes... Miyu'_ Nonoko thought.

"Uhm… Ruka-pyon? You're red as well?" Mikan said.

"Uh… er… must be a side effect…" Ruka made up an excuse.

"I have to finish my inventions Miyu. I'll have to go now. I'll pick you up later. We already excused you from your chores for today so just wait for me and stay out of trouble ok?" Hotaru said. Mikan nodded.

"I'm sorry Miyu I have to go too. I still have some training to catch up to. Wait for us at the park." Ryu said as he said farewell. He's still a little flushed.

"I-I'm gonna look for Natsume. See ya later Miyu." Ruka said as he tried to fight the urge to blush.

"Wait Ruka. We're coming with you. This is our fault after all." Koko said as the rest of the class agreed.

"Ok guys. See ya later. Sorry I can't come and help. I still feel a bit tired from yesterday." Mikan said.

"Ok. Are you sure you'll befine all alone?" Ruka asked a bit worried.

"I'm not alone. I've got Mango with me." Mango suddenly appeared on top of her head.

"R-right." They wanted to ask Miyu a lot of questions but seeing as she was too tired, they decided to ask tomorrow.

-

-

Mikan made her way to the park. She held her cloak in her hands since there was no one there to see her any way. She made her way to the Sakure tree she went to before and slept under its shade. She was smiling even when she was sleeping. Mango was also sleeping on her lap.

Unbeknownst to her someone or rather something was watching her. He gazed at her intensely. Somehow he felt different when near her. He hopped closer to take a closer look. She was definitely beautiful, captivating even. He stared at her for a very long time. How could she make him feel this way by just sleeping there and being still. She was sleeping soundly. He felt that he could just stare at her forever but he knew she would eventually wake up.

He leapt up high so his lips (if he had any at the moment) touched hers. This startled her and woke her up. She opened her eyes just in time to see the frog transform into Natsume. He returned to normal but…

He didn't end it there. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer to him while still kissing her. Mikan didn't know how to react. She just woke up and someone was kissing her. She just stared at him, wide-eyed. He broke the kiss and stood up. He looked at her one more time, turned his back and began walking away.

Mikan was left there dumbfounded. She could feel her heart beating rapidly but she didn't know why. She felt her cheeks go warm as she held her lips.

'_They'll become normal if kissed by a friend. So does that mean we're friends?'_ She thought.

-

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**Sorry it took a while for me to update…**

**Haha! Please don't kill me… **

**Please tell me what you think of this chapter…**

**BTW… the next one is about Mikan's first day at combination classes…**

**She'll meet some familiar people there…**

**Please review…**


	8. Circus Freaks

_**Hello again!!! In case you guys didn't notice, the last chapter was actually more of a filler. It means that this fic would still have a complete plot without it… I posted it for two reasons: 1. To keep you guys busy with it, 2. I needed to make Natsume and Mikan more intimate with each other. Nonetheless, it was still crucial to the story though not as much as the other chapters… Anyway back to the story…**_

Disclaimer: My mind isn't brilliant enough to come up with something as good as GA.

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a medieval setting.

The Kingdom of Alice

-

Chapter 8: Circus Freaks

_-_

_Previously:_

_(Chapter 6)_

_Meanwhile somewhere…._

"_I'm sure it's her" a man with russet hair and lavender eyes said._

"_Then our long wait is over…" a voice said._

"_What actions do we take?" _

"_For now we wait and observe…"_

-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_(Chapter 7)_

_- Mikan was left there dumbfounded. She could feel her heart beating rapidly but she didn't know why. She felt her cheeks go warm as she held her lips._

'_They'll become normal if kissed by a friend. So does that mean we're friends?' She thought _

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-

At the Yukushima Mansion…

-

Mikan was lazily staring at herself in the mirror, preparing herself for sleep. She was pondering on the events that occurred earlier that day.

'_They are all my friends, right? Then…Why… Why did that last kiss feel…' _she thought as she touched her lips with one hand while the other clutched the portion of her dress right above her heart. _'…different?'_

She lay on her bed with her eyes wide open. She wondered what tomorrow had in stored for her. Ever since her first day at Central Town, a lot of unforgettable events have happened. Each day offers a new surprise. Amidst all of her thinking, she finally fell asleep.

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-

The next day at Alice Academy…

-

The class went to their room early to have an important discussion. They were talking about the events that occurred the day before yesterday, when the AA Empire attacked. Their minds have been filled with different questions and the only person who could answer hasn't arrived yet.

"Ooh, I just can't stand it anymore. We have to find out right now." Sumire said anxiously.

"Calm down Sumire. We still have to wait for her to arrive." Yuu said.

"Argh… I know why those thugs were after my dear Natsume-sama but how does she fit in to all of this and how was she able to do those things back there?" Sumire added. "Most importantly, why did we stink?"

"We all want to know what happened. But… Do you think she'd tell us?" Ana said a bit unsure.

"That won't be the problem at all. The problem will be how we'll be able to talk to her considering the fact that Ryu and Imai-san are always watching her. They seem to be very protective of her." Koko said knowingly.

"Yeah but we're just gonna ask some questions. It's not like we're gonna hurt her or something." Sumire said.

"I know but you see I've been reading Ryu's mind. It wasn't easy but I managed to find out that he and Imai-san are doing their best to keep us from finding anything more about Sake-san. It was their idea to make her wear the cloak she keeps using." Koko explained.

"I guess we'll just have to find an opportunity to talk to her alone." Yuu said.

The door opened and Ruka entered the class room.

"Hey Ruka. Any luck finding Natsume? Is he still a frog?" Koko asked.

"No. I have been looking everywhere. I even stayed here last night to look for him. I'm not sure if he's still a frog though. He left me a note saying he was fine." Ruka replied.

"Hmmm… Can frogs write?" Ana asked.

"Maybe Nonoko's potion wore off." Koko concluded.

"That's impossible. That was one of my strongest potions. It's almost irreversible." Nonoko said.

"I guess we'll just have to wait for him to get to class too." Yuu said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

-

-

At the Yukushima Mansion…

-

"Uncle, I've heard you've talked to the king about our encounter the other day." Ryu said. He was calm but Uncle Hiro sensed a bit of worry in his tone.

"Don't think about it too much. I left out the details about Mikan." He assured him.

"Thanks Uncle." Ryu said. _'She might get into more danger if her identity is revealed.'_

Ryu woke Mikan up. They ate their breakfast and got ready for school. They bid their goodbyes to uncle Hiro and left. (Hotaru isn't here because she has to stay at the academy for two weeks to finish her inventions)

-

-

Somewhere hidden…

-

"Looks like the princess is leaving, get ready to follow her." A man said as he observed Ryu and Mikan get into a carriage.

"She's the one with the cloak right?" another man said. (Mikan only removes her cloak inside the mansion and sometimes in their classroom because all her classmates had already seen her)

"Yeah. Let's go." The two men followed the carriage and continued to watch Mikan from afar.

-

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-

Back at the academy…

Mikan and Ryu met up with Hotaru at the Academy gates. They plan to go to class together.

"Hotaru, why do you have to stay here again?" Mikan asked.

"I need to finish my inventions. The king plans to check them out himself." Hotaru said.

"Oh. Wow, you're so great Hotaru." Mikan said happily.

They continued walking until they've arrived at their classroom. They opened the doors and found their classmates in the middle of what seems to be an important meeting.

"Good morning everyone. What are you guys doing?" Mikan asked as she saw her classmates acting weirdly. Her classmates panicked a little bit. She caught them by surprise.

"Ah, Miyu good morning. Hehe, We were just discussing about uhm… er…" Yuu tried to make up an excuse but failed.

"…About how we're gonna help you with your chores later." Sumire said. Everyone agreed. They were definitely eager to get answers.

Hotaru and Ryu found it strange for them to be acting this way. They whispered to each other.

"I think they are still bothered by what Mikan did the other day." Hotaru stated.

"I guess so. At this rate we won't be able to keep her secret for long." Ryu said.

"We can't leave her alone with them. You know she's not good at lying." Hotaru said as Ryu nodded.

The door opened and everyone turned their heads to see Natsume enter. They were surprised to see him normal.

"Hey Natsume. I saw your note but how were you able to turn back to normal." Ruka asked. Everyone looked at Natsume, waiting for his reply.

He glanced at Mikan who was also staring at him. Ryu and Hotaru followed his gaze and wondered why he was staring at Mikan.

'_Mikan. Don't tell me…' _Ryu thought.

'_Interesting'_ Hotaru thought.

"I don't know." Natsume said. "Must've worn off."

"See that's what I told them." Koko said.

"Bu-but…" Nonoko tried to say. _'That's impossible…'_

Everyone seems to be convinced by Natsume's answer, everyone except Hotaru, Ryu and Nonoko.

'_I guess he doesn't want anyone to know. I wonder why.'_ Mikan thought as she stared at Natsume.

"What are you staring at, Cloaky?" Natsume asked.

"N-nothing" Mikan said as she looked away blushing a little. Now Ryu was more than suspicious. (Mikan removed her cloak when they reached the classroom).

Mr. Jinno entered the classroom. He noticed Mikan and approached her. He didn't recognize her without the cloak.

"Excuse me miss classes are about to start. Please go to your respective classroom." Mr. Jinno said authoritatively.

"Sensei this is my respective classroom." Mikan tried to explain.

"I didn't know there was a new student. Narumi didn't inform me about this." Mr. Jinno was about to go out and ask Mr. Narumi about the matter when Mikan spoke up.

"Uhm… It's me sensei. Miyu." She said.

"Oh. I didn't recognize you there Sake-san. So you finally decided to remove the ridiculous looking cloak, good for you. Don't forget about your cleaning duties for today." He said as he waved his stick around. "Ok everyone, back to your seats."

Their classes went on until it was finally time for their break. Mikan was not allowed to eat unless she was able to finish her chores since she was a no star.

"Ow, I'm so hungry." Mikan said as her stomach grumbled._ 'Come on Mikan you can do this… Yes you can. You mustn't be a burden to the others.'_

"Come on Miyu." Yuu said.

"Eh? Where are we going?" Mikan asked confusedly.

"Duh. We promised to help you out with your chores right? Come on none of us will get to eat if we don't finish up." Sumire said as she stuck up her nose.

"No, you don't have to, guys. I can manage." Mikan refused their help. She didn't want to be a bother to others.

"Well I already promised to help you even before they did, so you can't make me break my promise." Ruka said as he smiled at her.

"Let's just go. The sooner we go the sooner we finish." Hotaru said impassively though she was growing impatient.

Mikan was about to refuse more but was finally convinced by Ryu.

"Look, we're not exactly asking for your permission. We're helping you and that's that." He said listlessly. He had a suspicion about the confrontation his classmates were planning but he knew they'll just keep insisting and it would be great if they were to help Mikan with her chores. He didn't see it fit for Mikan to perform any form of manual labor, partly because she's a princess and mostly because he loves her. Hotaru had the same musings.

"Fine" Mikan said in defeat.

They exited the classroom and proceeded in doing Mikan's chores.

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Almost the whole class was busy helping Mikan. They used their alice in doing various chores. There were a lot to do considering the fact that there were no other no star students even before Mikan's arrival. The chores have all piled up because no one was around to do them for such a long time. Thanks to the help she received from her classmates, Mikan was able to manage without breaking a sweat. They were at the park doing the final chore, cleaning the walking waste receptacles.

Natsume was lying down underneath the shade of some random tree. He's been reading the whole time. The only reason he was there was because Ruka was there and he convinced him to come. He helped Ruka with some chores earlier but made sure no one saw him. From time to time, he and Ryu would exchange glares but only for a little while since Mikan was around. (Everyone, including Mikan, was able to feel the tension between the two so they always try their best to come between them before they all end up in the clinic.)

'_Tsk. Lazy arrogant jerk.'_ Ryu thought as he gave Natsume another glare.

Natsume seems to have understood what his glare meant and returned it with a glower. _'Hn. Annoying pest.'_

Both were at it again. The temperature shot up and the ground began to shake. Everyone stopped what they were doing to glance at the two. They seem to be engaged in a glaring competition. Natsume remained looking unfazed and calm but everyone knew otherwise. He was still leaning on the tree but unconsciously turned the book he was holding into ashes. Ryu seemed to be nonchalant as well. He was standing a few meters away from Natsume holding a wooden broom in his hands which he also _unconsciously_ broke into pieces.

The two were just about ready to kill each other when they felt a familiar presence. If possible their murderous aura increased in intensity. Natsume stood up and dusted his pants.

"I'm going." He told Ruka as he went away. His hand rose up as a gesture of farewell.

Ryu went over to Hotaru. "I'm afraid I can't stay anymore. My 'trainer' already wants me to go to 'training'." He said nonchalantly but irritation present in his tone. "Watch over Mikan. We can't afford to leave her with them." Hotaru nodded.

Ryu and Natsume headed off to the same direction.

'_Wonder where those two are heading?'_ Mikan thought.

"Probably to their ability based classes." Koko said as he read her mind. (Koko can only read her mind at times when she's distracted.)

"Oh, thank you." She said.

-----------------

"Now's our chance…" Sumire whispered. "Ryu-sama has gone already."

"Yes, but Imai-san is still there." Yuu said.

"Oh right."

-----------------

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"Tsk. What do you want now," Natsume said impatiently.

"Yeah we were busy. Couldn't you see that?" Ryu added.

"Hmm… I could see that. Busy formulating ways to kill each other? That would be very unfortunate but entertaining to witness." A cold sadistic voice said.

"Whatever. Just state your business Persona." Ryu said.

"My business is also mostly your business. It concerns the events that occurred the other day." Persona said.

"So, what of it?"

The man clad in black frowned. "You disappoint me."

Ryu and Natsume were taken aback.

"You were barely able to defeat the intruders form what I've heard." He glanced at the bandage on Natsume's arm. "And what I've heard must've been correct. You both fainted at the scene too, right?"

The two were like statues. They didn't know what to say.

"Pathetic… Just pathetic." Persona walked around the two. "I also heard that it wasn't you who drove them away. It was one of your classmates…. Maybe I should make that person a member of this class as well."

Ryu clenched his fist. Natsume just glared at Persona who was now smirking.

"Tell me, who was it that drove them away?" He said.

"We didn't see…" Ryu said.

"We fainted remember?" Natsume continued.

"Hn. You're hiding him from me? Well it doesn't matter. For your incompetence you're training will be twice as hard. How do you expect to defend this kingdom if you can't even defend yourselves?" Persona stated. (Their training is extremely difficult. Natsume also has to train because he is the prince and he has a dangerous type of alice. Before Natsume's family became royalty they were also protectors like Ryu's family. When there was no other heir to the throne, the family with the next most royal blood where the Hyuuga's. Natsume trains because he's needs to protect himself and his country. If he dies in while training, then it will only show that he's unworthy for the throne, according to Persona that is.)

"Proceed to the training grounds now." Persona commanded.

The two nodded and did what they were told.

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-

Everyone was busy. They were almost finished.

Ruka knows that Natsume was off to train again. He couldn't help but feel worried for his best friend.

Hotaru has been eyeing her classmates meticulously. She knew they were waiting for her to leave. It was just their luck that Misaki-sensei came to the scene.

"Hotaru, are you done with your inventions yet?" He asked her.

"No but I'm nearly there. I'm just finalizing them." She replied.

"Good. The king has decided to see your inventions tomorrow. I need to inspect them before you show it to him. Let's go." He motioned for her to follow him.

He didn't wait for her reply. He dragged her out of the park.

"Mikan…" Hotaru managed to utter.

"Bye Hotaru… Good luck" Mikan said as she beamed at her.

---------------

When they have finally gone…

"Yes! Finally!" Sumire said.

"Huh? What are you so happy about Permy?" Mikan asked.

"I told you not to call me that. Anyway, we have a few questions for you?" Sumire walked to where Mikan was.

"Yeah, Miyu-chan. Do you mind answering them for us?" Yuu asked.

"What are they about?" Mikan wondered.

"Just about the events the other day." Koko said.

"O-ok" Mikan knew they'd wonder about some things back then.

"Ok first off, how did you get pass those wall thingies that were blocking our ways?" Sumire asked anxiously.

"Uhm… er… well you see… I… I-uh used my barrier alice?" Mikan hoped they bought it.

"Hm? But is that how the barrier alice works?" Ana said.

"I thought the barrier alice was just to prevent the other Alice-user to use his Alice. What you did seemed more like you were canceling the effect of the other alice." Yuu explained. He was obviously not a genius for nothing.

'_Oh no. I don't want to go to jail'_ Mikan thought remembering what Ryu told her about the nullifying alice. (chapter 3- people with nullifying alice go to jail according to Ryu)

"Uhm well you see… I guess I was able to put a barrier around myself and he wasn't able to use his alice on me."

"O-ok then:" The others weren't really convinced but they figured they won't be able to get the information from her,

"How come we stank?" It was Nonoko's turn to ask.

"Uhm… I guess… er… Oh yeah, after you fainted one of the guys used his uhm…stink alice on you guys. Yeah that's it. Hehehe" She said while scratching the back of her head.

The others were a bit suspicious but her explanation was sensible so they shrugged the thought off. _'Stink alice? Didn't know such alice existed. Oh well'_ they thought.

"How were you able to bring us all back home then?" Ana asked.

"I carried you all." She said with a smile. "Isn't that right Mango?"

"Yup." Mango said as it rested on Mikan's shoulder.

"Are those all your questions?" Mikan inquired. She wanted her confrontation to be over already.

"Well, there is one thing that bothered me back there Miyu." Ruka said. He had remained silent all this time but there was actually a question that he too wanted to ask her.

"Hm? What is it Ruka-pyon?" She wondered

"That guy, the one with red hair and purple eyes… He seems to know you, doesn't he? And why did they just leave like that? They could have taken us all because we were all too weak. You were the only one standing then." Ruka stated.

Mikan pondered for a moment. It did seem quite odd how they retreated so suddenly. She also found the russet haired man odd.

"Actually, I… really don't know the answer to that one." She stated honestly.

"Oh I see," Ruka said.

"Guess your chores for today are all done Miyu-chan." Yuu said. "Let's proceed to our respective combination classes."

"Oh right. I'm a special ability class right?" Mikan asked her classmates what time it was. Her combination classes would be starting in a few minutes and she didn't want to be late. "Eeek. I'm almost late. Gotta go guys." She put her hood on and ran off hurriedly for two distinct reasons: to get to class, and to avoid further questioning. She ran as fast as her feet could take her only to stop abruptly as realization dawned on her; she doesn't know where to go. Once again her simple mind has gotten the better of her.

_(sigh) 'I better go ask for directions'_ she approached a group of random students. The students eyed her as if she was some kind of freak.

"Uhm excuse me. May I ask which way it is to the special ability class?" Mikan asked ever so politely.

"Tsk. No wonder you look like a weirdo. You're one of those freak shows." One of them said snobbishly.

"No you may NOT ask us. You may NOT even associate with us. We are part of the technical types, we are well-bred and we exercise proper decorum and etiquette. We do not mingle with the likes of you." Another one followed. (Since everyone has alices there was really nothing out of the ordinary with their powers. They were all too common and they seem normal. The special ability types, however, have different and rare alices. They were labeled as freaks because they were too different even from each other.)

Mikan was stunned.

"If it will make you leave and stop staring at us, your class is straight ahead behind those trees. It's really hard to miss such an eyesore of a place. Oh yeah it's more of a circus really. What are you waiting for? Go on… shooh circus freak!" another one said as they all laughed haughtily.

"T-thanks" _'I think'_ Mikan walked away from the arrogant group.

She was thinking of what they said. Was it all true? Are the S.A class students that worthless? Is she worthless? She shook her head rapidly to shake away the thoughts.

'_I shouldn't listen to them. I haven't even met those people yet. Grandpa told me never to judge people at all unless I wanted to be judged myself. Everyone has a purpose and no one is useless.' _She tried to convince herself while clenching her fist.

"Don't mind them princess. If you ask me they were the one's acting like freaks." Mango said. Mikan just smiled and nodded.

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-

She continued walking deeper into the forest. The next thing she saw was really amazing. In front of her stood a giant tent, well, it wasn't exactly that huge but it was enough to serve as a classroom. She peered into the tent only to be surprised (yet again) by the people inside.

"WELCOME TO THE SPECIAL ABILITY CLASS!!!" they all shouted.

There weren't that many of them at all compared to the other classes. Mikan stood there flabbergasted. They all looked so bizarre in a nice kinda way. The clothes they wore were of different assortments. (kinda like the ones they wore in the RPG)

They all approached her and gestured for her to come in.

"Hi there! The name's Andou, Tsubasa. You must be Ms. Sake. You'll fit right in." He said eyeing the clothes she was wearing and the apple on her shoulder. He than flashed her one of his smiles.

"Misaki Harada, doppelganger alice. Don't ya forget it." She said as she smiled and winked at Mikan. "Can you tell which one is the real me?" she cloned herself.

"E-eh?" Mikan muttered. Everyone laughed at her reaction.

They all introduced themselves to her. They were having a really great time.

'_I knew they weren't freaks.'_ Mikan thought to herself. She was glad she didn't pay attention to the students earlier. _'But why were they being mean in the first place?'_

"Tsubasa-senpai, why do people call you…? I mean us, freaks?" She looked at him questioningly.

The cheery atmosphere died down a little bit. Tsubasa looked at her with a sad smile in his face.

"You see, people look down on us because we're different." He paused.

"They treat us badly because of it. They think they're better than us." Misaki continued. "They couldn't even give us a decent class room. That's why we're in this tent."

"W-why?" Mikan was really confused.

"I guess it's because they're afraid of us." Tsubasa said while looking at the ceiling.

"Huh? Afraid?"

Tsubasa looked at her and patted her head.

"People tend to be afraid of things they know little of and things that are different. They don't know how to asses us. They don't know how to handle us. They are afraid that we may be better than them and that we may surpass them because of our uniqueness. They are just too proud to admit that we are just people like them, not better and definitely not worse, just equal. We don't succeed because of our alice or any other abilities that we have, but because the hard work and effort we exert." Tsubasa said as he stared at her. (She still has her cloak on)

"I understand." Mikan said. She removed her cloak. She felt safe with her new found friends. Of course they were stunned at first (stunned not only because she was beautiful but also they were wondering why she had to wear a cloak to conceal a perfectly normal face) but decided to listen more to what she has to say. "That is why you try to be cheerful always, right? We should all enjoy ourselves and do what we want without fear of being judged by others. We do our best in everything and make the most out of things. Like this tent."

"Huh? What about the tent?" Misaki asked.

"This maybe the only thing that the academy can offer us and it may not seem like much but…"

"But what?" everyone was anticipating what she was going to say.

"But I could tell that this is the best classroom here." Mikan concluded confidently.

"What makes you think so? This thing is horrible you know. Especially when it rains, the roof won't stop leaking." Misaki said.

Mikan merely giggled. "What makes it the best are the people inside it. Who would want to study in a classroom made of gold if your classmates were rude and mean? What makes a classroom good is the same as what separates a house from a home. It's the people in them and how they treat each other."

Everyone seems to be amazed by her explanation. It was something that only a child could make yet it was true down to the last word. '_Her mind maybe simple but that's what makes her special' _they thought.

Tsubasa ruffled her hair. "Your pretty smart aren't ya?"

"Sempai!" she whined.

"Yup, the princess is the smartest" Mango chirped.

"Eh? What's that?" Misaki asked.

"Oh that's my apple, Mango" Mikan answered. Everyone sweatdropped.

"One more question." Mikan said.

"Fire away"

"What's with your outfits?" Mikan asked.

"Ow these?" Misaki said as she twirled around. "These are what we usually wear. Special ability types are usually travelers and street performers. You sure don't know much do you?"

"Hehe… I wasn't informed much from where I come from." Mikan said as she scratched the back of her head.

"Ok then enough chat. Let's continue your party."

Everyone danced and sang to their hearts content. Mikan was having the time of her life. She wished that her day would never end.

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-

Meanwhile…

-

"Keep dodging" a cold voice said as he threw daggers in the air. "Remember no alice allowed"

"Yeah, yeah we know" Ryu said as he panted heavily. They've been at it for hours nonstop.

"Quit yapping and get this over with already." Natsume said. He was equally as tired and both of them were already badly injured.

"Remember your father will be visiting the academy tomorrow. He'd interview the involved students about your encounter." Persona said.

'_Oh no. He might find out'_ Ryu got distracted by the thought and got hit in the leg.

"Tsk. Tsk. You're still not learning anything are you?" Persona said as he threw more daggers.

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-

Somewhere near the S.A. tent…

"Our sources have confirmed that the king himself will be visiting tomorrow."

"What actions do we take then?"

"We're gonna make a commotion to confirm our suspicions about the princess, tomorrow will be the perfect opportunity."

"If we're lucky we can affirm her identity. We'll see if what Reo-sama assumed about her is true then."

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**Sorry again for the late update…**

**Please be kind enough to pin out my mistakes… I didn't have time to proof read again… Sorry…**

**Please review… **


	9. The Night of Preparations

**So… How long has it been? Sorry about the very, very, very late update. I'll be totally honest. It's because my other fic is in such high demand. But I just let it catch up with this one. Now they both have eight chapters. Oh wait… since I updated this one, it has a one chapter lead. Oh well… **

**I'll be updating alternately from now on… So no worries…**

Disclaimer: Maybe if I found a magical well, I could actually own it but until then, it can't be mine.

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a medieval setting.

The Kingdom of Alice

-

Chapter 9: The Night of Preparations

_-_

_Previously:_

-

_Somewhere near the S.A. tent…_

"_Our sources have confirmed that the king himself will be visiting tomorrow."_

"_What actions do we take then?"_

"_We're gonna make a commotion to confirm our suspicions about the princess, tomorrow will be the perfect opportunity."_

"_If we're lucky we can affirm her identity. We'll see if what Reo-sama assumed about her is true then."_

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Inside the Special Ability type's tent…

-

"Yay… my turn…" Mikan's excitement was barely contained as she played with her newly found friends.

"What? You're turn again? I thought it was my turn to pin the tail on the donkey." Tsubasa asked in an amused tone.

They were playing pin the tail on the donkey. It's really simple. They chase a donkey around and stick the tail on it's behind. Of course, no real donkey was harmed. The donkey was made of paper, created by an Alice that makes drawings come to life.

"Go Pwincess!!! You can do it!!!" cheered an overly energetic Mango. I mean Apple. Whatever.

Mikan charges towards the donkey, her auburn hair flowing behind her as she moved gracefully. Her grace, however, did not last too long for, once again, her simple mind got her distracted. She hit the ground face first, and let out a painful shriek.

A fellow classmate of theirs came rushing to the tent, gaining the attention of everyone in it. He stopped just as he reached the entrance and paused to catch his breath. Obviously tired from his long run, he panted the words he had to say out of his mouth.

"I _–pant-_ got _–pant-_ s-some _–pant-_ news for you guys… _-pant-_"

"Woah, take it easy, Taka. What exactly is this news of yours that you almost gave yourself a heart attack by running all the way here? And look Miyu-chan got startled by you as well," Tsubasa glanced at his kouhai and helped her get up.

"Ok, hear this, guys. The king is coming over at the academy!"

"So?" Misaki raised an eyebrow at him.

"So… The academy will be holding a showdown among all the ability types."

"Showdown?" The people in the tent chorused.

"Yes. But it's not an ordinary showdown. They say the winner gets rewards. Big rewards. It doesn't really give us much of a choice. It is actually mandatory. Even the dangerous ability type will participate."

"Really?"

"Yes! Unfortunately, we were informed late yet again. In fact, no one even bothered to inform us. It just happened that I came across a group of teachers talking about it. The whole academy is busy preparing!" Taka said hysterically, panic getting the better of him.

"What do we do now?" Mikan asked.

"Well, Noda-sensei got lost in one of his time traveling trips again so… we can leave him out of the picture." Tsubasa stated.

"I can't believe those jerks didn't tell this to us sooner. When I get my hand on them I'll give them a piece of my mind." Misaki grinned evilly.

'_She's scary…'_ Mikan thought.

As if being able to read her mind, Tsubasa answered, "You should see her when she has just woken up. She can be scary way beyond all reason."

Within a blink of an eye, Tsubasa's face collided with the cold uncemented floor, all thanks to his unnecessary comment. "That oughta teach you a thing or two about saying things behind my back." She said while rubbing her hands together as if removing some invisible dirt.

"So back to business… What are we gonna do for tomorrow?" Misaki faced everyone.

Tsubasa got back on his feet in an acrobatic manner and grinned. "We'll give the king a performance he'll never forget. And with the help of our cute new classmate, it's bound to be a success."

"Yay! Go pwincess!" cheered Mango, the apple.

"Ehehe! Uh… I'm not aloud to remove my cloak outside. Ryu-kun doesn't want me to." Mikan said.

"Ryu? Yukushima? He's back already?" Tsubasa was surprised that the infamous protector was back.

"Is he your boyfriend Miyu-chan?" Misaki asked the flustered Mikan playfully.

"Uh no… No It's nothing like that. He's my best friend you see." Mikan waved her hands frantically in defense.

"Whatever Miyu-chan," The class enjoyed teasing the embarrassed girl.

"You don't mind staying at the academy for the night, do you? We kinda need to prepare for the showdown extra hard."

"Hm… I'll have to ask Hotaru and Ryu-kun first," Mikan answered, "I'll go look for them now."

She exited the tent and decided to look for her two best friends. The class continued to discuss their plans for tomorrow.

"So… How exactly will this showdown thingy be done?" Misaki asked.

"Well, each class is to have their own presentation and booths, and there will be challenges and tests prepared by the king's advisers themselves. They say it's to find out how ready the students are against attacks for the AAE. It has something to do with the events from the other day. I heard the class involved was Sake-chan's class." Taka explained.

"Booths? Like the Alice festival?" Tsubasa wondered.

"Sort off but not exactly. It's more of an assessment of each class' skill, really."

"Oh"

-

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"Hm… I wonder where Ryu and Hotaru are. It's getting dark already. Uh-oh" Mikan halted in her tracks. "I think I'm lost."

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-

Everyone in the academy was busy preparing for the king's visit. No one, not even a single student came home that night. Making up for their lack of preparation during the AAE encounter, the two best students in the dangerous ability class had to work ten times harder that their other classmates. Persona had given the rest breaks but Ryu and Natsume were still at it.

"The next drill for your training will be one-on-one combat. The first one to make his opponent unable to rise will be considered the winner." Person smirked triumphantly at being able to make his most favorite students suffer. He knew pretty well that they were in no condition to fight. Badly injured and completely exhausted, they barely had the energy to stand up.

'_Darn you Persona!'_ They both thought at the same time.

"Ok on my signal. Start!"

Natsume began the offense by throwing fireballs and punches simultaneously. He ignored the pain overwhelming his injured arm.

Ryu also had to ignore the unbearable pain coming from his leg. He had difficulty evading Natsume's attacks while limping.

"So this is how it is, huh your HIGHness?" Ryu mocked his indifferent foe.

"Tsk. Quit whining and stand still so I could hit you," came Natsume's stoic reply.

"As if." Ryu raised the ground between them to shield him from Natsume's attack. He used the ground where Natsume was standing to hold him still, mounting his feet to the earth.

"What the?" Natsume tried desperately to move only to fail miserably.

"Now it's my turn." Ryu smirked.

He formed a fist from the ground and hit Natsume hard on the stomach, sending him flying to the air. When he was about to stand up from his fall, Ryu mounted his feet to the ground again.

"Nice try Yukushima but I won't fall for that again." Natsume wiped the blood from his mouth and smirked. He used his Alice to superheat the earth mounting his feet. The earth slowly melted allowing him to free himself. The molten earth, of course, didn't harm him since his Alice is fire.

He leaped in the air and threw several fireballs at Ryu. Ryu dodged each with difficulty while trying to make Natsume still. To avoid contact with the ground, Natsume jumped from tree to tree, simultaneously hitting Ryu with his fire whip, causing him minor burns.

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-

"Oh… where can they be? I'm hungry," Mikan whined to no one in particular.

"You're not gonna eat me are you pwincess?" Mango asked, half-scared.

"Of course not Mango! Silly! Friends don't eat friends." Mikan said in a sing-song voice.

They heard loud noises coming from deeper in the woods. Curiosity getting the better of them, they decided to check it out.

"Hm… Must be a party or something. Let's go Mango. There's bound to be food there." She said all starry eyed.

--------------

-

The two were still at it… Hitting and ducking alternately.

"Die Hyuuga!"

"You first!"

"Stay away from Miyu!"

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"You kissed her, didn't you? How else could you have become normal?"

Silence…

"You did kiss her" Ryu clenched his fist,

"Don't you dare come near her"

"Why not? You can't order me around"

Though their verbal battle was spoken in monotone, their glare was as intense as their fight.

Mikan came peering from the bushes only to behold a sight that would leave her dumbfounded.

"W-what are you guys doing? Y-you're hurt! Stop this now!" Mikan was lucky that Persona had already left to train the other Dangerous Ability students.

"Mik-miyu?" Ryu uttered.

"We were doing nothing. This is how we always train, Cloaky," Natsume explained to the stunned girl. True enough, that was how they always trained. Sometimes their battles would be more extreme. This however did not relive Mikan of her worrying glance.

"You two are gonna get yourselves killed," she shook her head and headed over to where the two boys were. She took a good look at them and noticed their injuries. There was almost nothing serious except for Ryu's injured leg –when Persona threw a dagger at him- and Natsume's bleeding arm –the wound has reopened due to the strenuous battle-. She sighed heavily at the two panting boys who could barely stand up. With no other available material to cover their open wounds, she ripped off a portion of her dress, up until right above her knees, revealing her smooth pale legs. The boys fought the urge to blush and immediately averted there gaze elsewhere.

"What are you doing cloaky?"

She ignored him and proceeded in removing her hood. She went to a nearby lake and carefully moistened her cloak. With delicate precision, she carefully cleaned their wounds making sure that she doesn't worsen the condition in the process. She used the cloth she ripped to bandage the injuries.

"Hm… Not bad Miyu. I didn't know you could be a good nurse. Thanks," Ryu showed her a rare smile that slightly turned her cheeks pink.

"Hn. I'm not talking to either of you. You could have died ya know!" Mikan crossed her arms in front of her and pouted. It made her look all the more cuter.

"Tsk. Doesn't that count as talking to us?" Natsume drawled.

"No… I mean yes! Uh wait…"

Natsume smirked.

"You're a meanie Natsume!" Mikan pouted more.

"Meanie Natsume!" Mango stuck its tongue at him.

Ryu smirked, "Yeah, Natsume quit being so mean"

Natsume's lips curved downwards. "When can we eat that fruit? Its bound to rot sooner or later."

"Mango? We're not eating him!" Mikan held the fruit protectively.

"Why are you here anyway, Miyu?" Ryu suddenly changed the topic. He and Natsume were still sitting on the ground, trying to regain energy.

"Oh, right! I wanted to ask you if I could stay at the special ability's classroom. We have to prepare for tomorrow you see. Can I stay?" Mikan pleaded. Her auburn eyes caught a little moonlight and shone brilliantly under the starry sky making it impossible for anyone to turn down her request.

"Fine," Ryu sighed.

"You better go now, Cloaky. Before our trainer arrives," Natsume whispered the last sentence but Ryu was able to understand what he meant.

"Yeah, Miyu. Just go straight ahead. All the paths here lead to the S.A's tent," Ryu informed her.

Mikan nodded and happily skipped towards her tent. She can't wait till tomorrow.

_To be continued…_

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**Ok… this is pretty short compared to the other chapters but hey, I don't feel like adding anymore…**

**Please leave me some reviews….**

**Happy Holidays, Guys!!!**


	10. Alice Showdown

Disclaimer: Even if I won the lottery I don't think I'd be able to own it…

Disclaimer: Even if I won the lottery I don't think I'd be able to own it…

Summary: Gakuen Alice characters in a medieval setting.

The Kingdom of Alice

-

Chapter 10: Alice Showdown

_-_

_Previously:_

_-_

_Inside the S.A. tent…_

"_Ok, hear this, guys. The king is coming over at the academy!" _

"_So?" Misaki raised an eyebrow at him. _

"_So… The academy will be holding a showdown among all the ability types."_

"_Showdown?" The people in the tent chorused._

"_Yes. But it's not an ordinary showdown. They say the winner gets rewards. Big rewards. It doesn't really give us much of a choice. It is actually mandatory. Even the dangerous ability type will participate."_

"_Really?" _

"_Yes! Unfortunately, we were informed late yet again. In fact, no one even bothered to inform us. It just happened that I came across a group of teachers talking about it. The whole academy is busy preparing!" Taka said hysterically, panic getting the better of him._

"_So… How exactly will this showdown thingy be done?" Misaki asked._

"_Well, each class is to have their own presentation and booths, and there will be challenges and tests prepared by the king's advisers themselves. They say it's to find out how ready the students are against attacks for the AAE. It has something to do with the events from the other day. I heard the class involved was Sake-chan's class." Taka explained._

"_Booths? Like the Alice festival?" Tsubasa wondered._

"_Sort off but not exactly. It's more of an assessment of each class' skill, really." _

"_Oh"_

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-

-

"No! No! not like that!! You do this then that!"

"Oh…"

"_-sigh-_ Come on… You guys can do better!!"

"Yeah… We'll show those creeps what we're made of…"

-

Midnight.

The usual silence that engulfed the land at this hour has never been missed so much by its inhabitants. None too silently, the people inside Alice Academy busied themselves with their preparations for the arrival of the Alice King. For it was such a rare occasion for the King to bless his subjects with his presence, everyone made sure that everything was perfect, presentable and most of all, impressive.

The somatic types, latent types, technical types, special ability types, and even the dangerous ability types were all anxious to win the upcoming showdown. Four of the aforementioned want to prove their class superior among the rest. The remaining class just wants to show that they can be just as good as any.

As the moon rode across the star-studded sky, no one seemed to have noticed the sun slowly peeking over the horizon.

"Hm?" muttered a very sleepy brunette girl. Her hair loose and her eyes half open.

"Pwincess is awake!!" the apple perching itself on the girl cried excitedly. "Yay!!"

"Oh… Good morning Princess!" Tsubasa Andou said. He and the rest of the special ability types thought it fit for Mikan to be addressed as princess just as Mango does her. Of course that's only as far as they know…

"Sempai!! I told you not to call me that!" She stood up and began to stretch her arms to wake herself up.

"Aww… It suites her… doesn't it guys?" Tsubasa grinned and the rest of the class just laughed as they agreed with him. "We can't help calling you princess. I mean, look at you… Hm… how do they describe princesses in those story books, again?" Tsubasa grinned and gave Misaki a meaningful glance.

Misaki grinned back and clasped her hands together, "They say princesses are suppose to be beautiful beyond compare…"

Tsubasa started walking around Mikan, making her dizzy as he examined her from head to toe. "Check… She passes that category…"

Misaki nods and continues, "A princess has a knight to protect her…"

"Check… She has Ryu for that…"

Understanding what they had meant, Mikan couldn't help but turn a little red.

"A princess can win the hearts of her people even with just her smile…"

"Yeah… we pretty much experienced that one first hand yesterday… so that's another check for ya…"

"And the princess always gets the prince…"

Mikan turns even redder remembering a certain crimson eyed prince and a certain kiss she had with an amphibian.

"Hm… well other than the last one she fits every description. I wouldn't be surprised if you really were a princess, Miyu" Tsubasa concluded and the rest bopped their heads in agreement.

Mikan, not being able to do anything, just crossed her arms and pouted.

"Oh… you're upsetting the pwincess…" Mango the apple pouted along with her. Everyone laughed.

"Oh… Princess…" Misaki grinned, "Sorry if you had to sleep on the floor… You know how it is… We really don't have any other room besides this tent so I hope you still slept well."

Mikan shook her head and smiled, "It was great sempai! You don't have to treat me special because I'm new, and I found last night's sleep very relaxing…"

Misaki sighed, "And to think the other classes have their own buildings for themselves…"

"Tsk. Haven't you been listening to our princess?" Tsubasa wagged his finger in front of her. "Our class is the best place to stay at 'coz we're a family in here… right, princess?"

Mikan smiled her brightest smile and with one beaming _'hai!'_ everyone immediately started feeling better and confident.

"Ok… ok… Let's just finish our practice shall we?" Misaki said energetically.



A carriage stopped in front of the Academy's huge gates. Several guards stood by the entrance, arranged in two rows at opposite sides. Two men stood beside the carriage door and opened it.

_-Trumpet music-_

"_Prepare yourselves for the presence of his majesty, King Takume Hyuuga, ruler of the Alice Kingdom, our humble land!' _shouted the royal escort.

As the trumpets stopped playing, a formidable presence emerged from the carriage. Clad in simple yet majestic robes of silk, and a crown seated atop his head, the Alice king emitted an air of superiority which gained him the respect and admiration of his subjects. For a middle-aged man with crimson coloring his eyes and grey tinging his raven hair and beard, it cannot be denied that he, much like his son, has a lot of charisma.

"Welcome your majesty…" the teachers of Alice Academy greeted. They were to escort the King to the respective ability classes they were handling, each wanting one thing—to impress.

Even Noda-sensei, the moderator of the S.A. class, was there. He appeared in the S.A. tent that morning, surprised to see his students getting ready for some kind of event he was not aware of. His students briefed him of the arrival of the king and so he hurried over to the front gate just in time to see the king arrive.

"Good Morning to you too… Let's attend to business shall we…"

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Inside the academy was a field reserved for different activities for sports, training and the likes. In the middle was a stage with chairs on top of it. The king sat himself at the biggest chair, beside him was his most trusted adviser, Sir Nogi. Behind them were the three high priests.

The students were scattered in different booths in the academy. As the teachers notified them of the king's arrival, they immediately dropped what they were doing and proceeded to the field. Grouping themselves according to their respective classes, they sat themselves on the ground, preparing for the beginning of the most awaited event.

Each class was holding a flag, symbolizing their ability classes. The technical types were found in front at the middle followed by the latent types and then the somatic types behind them. The dangerous ability and special ability types were found seated at the far left and far right side of the stage—respectively. In front of each class were their teachers.

"Ne, ne, Tsubasa-sempai, who are those people behind the king?" Mikan asked out of curiosity, glancing over at the high priests.

Tsubasa kept his voice low and whispered to her ear, "Princess, it's best if you don't catch the attention of those three. They are very mysterious. No one really knows much about them except the fact that they've been around for decades." He glanced at the high priests and continued, "Rumor has it that they are actually from the dark realm."

"Eh?" Mikan's eyes widened as she stared at the three hooded figures. She looked at Tsubasa, tilted her head meaningfully and then asked, "What's the dark realm?"

Tsubasa fell down and sighed. "Never mind…"

But Mikan did mind. There was something about those three hooded figures. She finds them highly unusual. She gave them a sideway glance so as not to be obvious and noted their appearance. One was really tall. The other was just as tall as her and appears to be a woman who has black curly hair. The last one was as short as an elementary student. What bothered her most was the fact that the three high priests would occasionally give her curious glances. It was probably because of her hood and cloak… She sighed. 'Ryu still won't give me a break'

-o0o-

"Students of Alice Academy… It is of great pleasure that I officially begin today's events in honor of the king's presence." Narumi gave the crowd his opening remarks.

Natsume grunted in his seat.

"Hey, you're high-ness your daddy's over there. Shouldn't you sit on the comfy chair at the stage next to him instead of sitting on the ground like us common people," Ryu teased him with a monotonously mocking tone. He was still mad at Natsume because of a certain kiss.

"Can it Yukushima…" Natsume was not in the mood for their petty fights.

"Whatever," Ryu grunted.

"Stop acting like children you two… "Persona commanded his tone threatening.

After finishing Narumi's long introductory speech (which no one had listened to), it was finally the King's turn to speak.

"My dear children, as you all know, my visit here concerns a very serious matter. I will be direct with you. You have probably prepared for my arrival even without knowing what I have in stored for you today. So as to not waste anytime, I'll briefing you of what you're going to do." He paused to clear his throat.

"You will be showing me your mastery of your Alice through different tasks. The first will be a presentation with you ability types. It will be up to you on how that will go."

Murmurs swarmed through the crowds.

"The second one will be through the booths you have already set up. I'll be visiting each one of them and like the first task, assess your skills by class."

Sighs of relief were heard.

"The final task will be the most different and probably the most difficult as well… It will be for the individual assessment of your skills… You shall all participate in… an _Alice Duel…_"

Gasps and shouts of protests were heard among the students and even the teachers.

"That's dangerous… "

"Someone could get hurt!"

"You can't pit them all against each other… Not all of them have offensive Alice"

With a single wave of his hand, the king immediately silenced the crowd. "Yes… You shall all be pitted against each other… Your opponents will be randomly chosen and like most duels, the person left standing wins… You will not necessarily fight different classes. In fact, you might fight against someone in your own class…"

"But your majesty… These are only children and most are inexperienced at-" Narumi tried to protest but was cut off by the king.

"Yes… They are inexperienced. That is why I shall be granting them an opportunity to have such experience. You are well aware of our kingdom's situation. The enemy is gathering recruits and their target is none other than the students of this academy. If they do not know how to fight and defend themselves, they might as well hang a sign around their necks saying 'dead man walking'," The king stated sternly.

Narumi sighed and bowed his head in disappointment.

"Do not worry… The students will not be harmed. I have my healers and they shall be attending to the injuries every time a duel ends…" The king lifted his gaze and continued, "Enough about this… It will be for later. Right now, focus on the tasks at hand… Your class presentations…"

As the king sat himself back down, Narumi made his way to the center of the stage to introduce the first class to perform their welcoming presentation.

"And Now… The Class of the common and hardworking… The Latent types… The class of the super powers"

The latent types made their way to the center of the field, between the stage where the king was at and the spectators.

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"Mikan…" Ryu whispered to himself, absentmindedly. He was unaware of the fact that Natsume had been observing him ever since the king mentioned the Alice Duel.

"Who are you talking to, pest?" Natsume asked, masking his curiosity by nonchalance.

Snapping out of his reverie, Ryu realized that he was being observed. He glared at Natsume and muttered, "None of your business. Shouldn't you worry about pleasing your daddy?"

"Tsk. Whatever…" Natsume gave Ryu one final sideway glance then returned his attention to the stage. Natsume knew for a fact that Ryu is rarely distracted and he knows better than anyone else that whenever Ryu _is _distracted, it's something serious.

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The latent type chose to present a play to the Alice King. Since their Alice are composed the _superpowers_, they found it easy to manage their presentation. Illusions were made to change the scenery. Students with the teleportation Alice made costume change very efficient and those with the levitation Alice enabled them to do breathtaking stunts. Weak elemental Alice also helped with the special effects. All in all the latent ability type's play was an amazing display of Alice control and coordination.

The king nodded his head in approval. It was very well planned and organized and the manner of presentation enabled him to see the cooperation between their Alice. But of course, he was not there to enjoy himself. His purpose for this sudden visit is to prepare his precious subjects for upcoming attacks from the AAE. He signaled Narumi to start the next event as the Latent types made their way back to their seats.

"Thank you very much for that wonderful performance… Wasn't it truly marvelous my dear students?" Narumi chimed with a goofy grin on his face. The almost unnoticeable nervousness in his tone was ignored by most, except the most perceptive. No one can really question the odd behavior of the usually careless teacher for they all were worried about the upcoming duel.

Sensing the uneasiness emitted by the students, Narumi released an exasperated sigh and gave the students a smile that he hoped was reassuring. "Now let's give it up for the Somatic types who have prepared for us a little song and dance number… Let's give it up for the Somatic types… The class of the performers…"

And give up, the audience did. The applause they gave turned out a little more unenthusiastic than intended.

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"Wow… wasn't the latent types' performance just the best… That play was awesome… don't you think so Mango?" said Mikan, who was currently the only student who wasn't affected by the tension developing from all the anxiety for the upcoming duel.

"Yup! Yup!" Mango responded.

"What do you think Misaki-sempai? It kinda makes me nervous for our turn…" She told her pink-haired senior.

Misaki and the rest of their class were nervous too alright, but for completely different reasons. Misaki was confident in her fighting skills, however, Alice duels are supposed to be forbidden because of its dangers. If the Alice king himself was the one who is instigating the duel, then the threat to their kingdom must be serious.

"Hello? Sempai? Anybody there?" Mikan waved her hand in front of her out-of-it senior to get her attention.

"W-what? Oh… Sorry about that…" Misaki smiled.

"Is something bothering you?" Mikan asked as she tilted her head to the side—a habit she did whenever she was curious.

"Ahaha… Nothing really…" Misaki reassured her as she scratched the back of her head. She turned to Mikan with slightly curious expression and asked, "You're not bothered are you?"

"Well… I am a little nervous but since we did practice I'm sure we'll do just fine," she beamed.

Misaki shook her head and smiled, "Not that silly…"

"Hm?"

"I was referring to the Alice Duel. Aren't you worried about that?"

Mikan paused for a minute before looking at her senior and saying, "I've been meaning to ask you what that was. Is it a game?"

Misaki bit her lip and stifled her laughter. _'Of course she's not bothered. She doesn't know what it is…'_ Misaki just grinned at her and muttered a simple, "Sort of…" She suddenly found herself completely at ease once again. _It'll be best to tell her later…_

Mikan pouted. "But I really don't know what it is… I told you, they don't tell me much where I come from…"

"I know… But you shouldn't think of that now… Let's focus on what we're gonna do in front."

"Ok sempai," Mikan smiled. She failed to notice the wary glances her seniors gave each other.

o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o' o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o' o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o'

The Somatic type's performance was not the least bit affected by the heavy tension. If it were, no one had noticed. They were performers, after all. With spectacular displays of superhuman athletic prowess, incredible acrobatic grace and irresistible pheromone-induced charm, the performers were able to garner the crowd's attentions. Ruka just smiled embarrassedly as he heard a familiar voice cheer him on.

"Spectacular!" the king commented, duly impressed. Everyone nodded. It was expected that they would give the best performance; they are the class of the performers after all.

Narumi made his way back to the stage to announce the next performers. "The next class is the class of the greats. The class of the wise and the crafty, the inventive and the innovative, the ingenious and the artistic, the Technical Types… The Class of the brilliant..."

The crowd's response was a little bit more cheerful thanks to the previous performance and the tension lifted partially.

o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o' o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o' o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o'

"Oh, Hotaru's class is up next!" Mikan cheered for her best friend as loud as she could, much to her class' amusement.

"Go! Go! Otarui-chan" Mango cheered as well.

o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o' o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o' o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o'

"Idiot," Hotaru whispered with more amusement than irritation than she had intended. _She's my idiot,_ she thought with a sigh as she made her way in front of the crowd.

With the time she spent at the academy, she was already able to build herself a reputation as the brightest genius in the technical types. She has gained herself wealthy patrons and persistent admirers. The crowd cheered louder when she finally stopped in front.

Instead of performing like the earlier classes, the technical types made a mini demonstration. Composers composed and made music, painters painted paintings that came to life, and bakers baked singing pastry…

'_If you wanna be happy and merry,_

_Go on and eat me I'm a sweet yummy pastry._

_But if you will eat me,_

_Eat me completely._

_For its not fine and dandy to be left over candy…'_

Hotaru felt the lower part of her left eye twitch. Although Anna was a talented baker, it didn't mean her creations were talented as well.

When Nonoko stepped in to demonstrate some of her tonics, the crowd fidgeted in their place with apprehension. The events of the other day did not go unspoken and many fear the consequence of being turned into an animal. Natsume smirked. He didn't mind being a frog again. As if reading his thoughts, he was put at the receiving end of two very famous glares, one icy and the other jealous. Ruka was just fighting hard to keep himself from blushing and Koko was laughing like an idiot remembering the fun he had when he 'played' with froggies. He gulped when all four victims of the frog tonic glared at him and he wished he was dead when the Ice queen gave him one of her smiles. The one that says, '_you're dead… I mean it…'_ He was gonna be her guinea pig again.

Hotaru cleared her throat so the crowd would silence and listen to her demo. "This is one of my earliest designs," she said, referring to a monumental object covered with a giant blanket right next to her. How it got there, no one noticed.

She tugged at the blanket and it fell down slowly, fluttering when it caught the wind. It revealed a complicated piece of machine, made up of gears and cogs turning round and round as one end spurts out steam. Oddly enough, it resembled something very familiar…

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the **BAKA-pult**"

Koko paled… _she wouldn't_

o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o' o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o' o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o', o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o',o'

A/N: I know… you wanna kill me… Gone for months and back with an unfinished chapter… yes it's not finished… I decided to cut it…

-dodges flying beavers-

I swear I _had_ a good reason for disappearing… I just forgot… -dodges flying goldfish-

Nope… I will not update my other fic **yet**… -dodges more random objects-

I will soon… I hope…

Oh and sorry for not replying to all those reviewers and random people… I will when I get the chance…

TO friends whose messages I haven't replied to I'm not mad at you and I haven't replaced you… I just haven't had the chance to reply…

I gotta go but please do review… It makes me happy…


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